Savior
by Merle's Sugartits
Summary: Daryl abandoned what could have been the family he's always wanted for the brother he frequently wished he didn't have, only to be reunited with a blast from his past. Can Merle, Daryl, and Lucy save the world with their knowledge or will everyone eventually be doomed to the same fate as the undead? Daryl/Carol & Merle/OC
1. Chapter 1 - Reunited

_Author's Note: This is going to go in a slightly different direction from the show. I'll try to update it at least once a week. Your CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and compliments are welcomed and appreciated. I know this chapter isn't that long, but my computer's dying, I promise the next one will be longer._

**At the Beginning:**

The mass of people was too much, everyone was scared, screaming, and crying. People pushed and shoved, trying to get into the safe house. Atlanta had been breached, and Daryl, Merle and Lucy needed to get the hell out of there before the Napalm started to drop. Atlanta was supposed to be safe, but a horde had gotten through the defenses. "Merle!" Lucy shrieked.

They turned to her, the crowd of people surrounded her, military personnel, mostly. She stuck her arm out, grasping for them. Merle stood there while Daryl actually attempted to help her, but it was too late. The gates slammed shut. The Dixons were on the outside, while Lucy met her fate inside the city.

**Now:**

She watched as the Dixon brothers helped the Spanish family with the horde of walkers that had attacked them, and was a little surprised when Daryl turned his crossbow on Merle, _So, he finally grew some balls,_ she thought, smiling to herself. She followed them through the woods, careful not to be noticed. It didn't take long for them to get in a fight, and when she seen Daryl fall to the ground, his shirt ripped in Merle's hand, revealing the scars on his back, she decided it was time to intervene. "Boys, boys, boys, you should quiet down before you attract any unwanted attention."

They turned in the direction of the voice, but didn't see her anywhere. The heat was getting to their heads, and they were starving, it was hallucinations. But they couldn't both have the same hallucination, could they? The phantom voice continued to speak, but the ignored the words, trying to pinpoint the location, but everytime they would think they had it, it would come from a different direction. Daryl loaded his crossbow, and pointed it to the tree tops, scanning them for any movement.

The light crunch of leaves sounded behind them, "You don't really intend to shoot me, do you?"

The brothers turned to come face to face with a woman they thought they would never see again. She was different though. Her skin was tan and her complexion was no longer washed out, her big brown eyes shone brightly as the corners of her lips turned up in a smile. Her long, black hair fell in curls to her waist with a variety of feathers weaved throughout, and was glossy instead of dried up and stringy, and where the sun shined through the leaves her hair shined dark blue. She no longer looked frail and breakable either. She had gained weight, her arms were toned with muscles and her thighs that used to be slightly bigger than Daryl's forearm were now muscular, and both Dixons knew under the T-shirt and vest she wore was a six-pack.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't lil' Miss Cherokee Rose," Merle grinned. Daryl tried to suppress his dispair at the reminder of his failure to save Sophia, his broken promise to Carol.

"Her name's Lucy," Daryl muttered, but only to himself. He refused to refer to her by her stage name.

"I've missed you too," she grinned. She gave Merle an appraising look, her eyes lingering on his right hand, or at least, where his right hand should've been. "What happened?"

Merle lifted it up, turning it slightly, and told her about how he had been left on a rooftop to die. As they caught her up with everything that had happened in the last year or so, they walked through the woods, Merle staring at her backside as she led the way. Aside from the bow she carried in her hand and the quiver of arrows on her back, there was also a sword sheathed on her left hip, a gun holstered on her right thigh, an array of knives secured to her forearms, and an unusual device on her left hand. "What about you?" Merle asked when their tale was over. "How the hell did you make it out of Atlanta? We watched the place get napalmed that night."

"Before the bombing started, they led all of the survivors into an underground bunker. There they separated us into groups, and then into more groups according to age, gender, height, and weight. Husbands and wives, mothers and children, everyone was ripped away from their loved ones. They drew blood and ran tests, then filled us with drugs, and ran more tests, and drew more blood. It went on like this for..." she shook her head, "I don't even know, it felt like forever."

"How did you get out?" Daryl asked when she paused.

"I'm getting to that. We're all infected, but of course, you already knew that," she said, glancing back at Daryl. "The government was trying to make better humans-"

"They can't do that!" Merle interuppted.

She ignored him and continued, "They tainted the fresh water wells with their virus. It was supposed to make us faster, stronger, smarter, even prevent the common cold, but what they didn't know was that the virus mutated. By the time they figured out what was going on, it was too late. People died, and then came back to life. The virus restored the brain, but not anything else."

She took another pause before continuing, "The tests they ran was to find a way to fix the virus. They weren't concerned about curing us, they wanted to fix the virus. We were all test subjects, different groups received different treatments. Something happened to one group, and they...changed without even dying. Whatever drugs they had been filled with sped up the virus, and they changed almost instantly. They overwhelmed the scientists that had been working on them, and before the security team could subdue them, they had over ran the place. Everyone ran for the surface. I just barely made it out with my life."

"So...all those tests," Daryl started, nerves getting the best of him, "What did they do to you?" As if it wasn't obvious.

She turned, "Aside from the obvious," she flexed her muscles slightly before sliding one of her knives from it's sheath. She bent down and dragged it across the skin of her left thigh. The blood oozed down her leg, but in mere seconds the wound had reknitted itself and the bleeding stopped. "Not only that," she said, undoing the buttons on her vest. She took it off and pulled her shirt collar aside, revealing a large patch of skin on her shoulder that was slightly paler than the rest, and there were tiny scars around it. "It happened during my escape. One of those damn things took a chunk out of me. Scared the hell out of me too, but I guess it's a good thing I couldn't bring myself to suicide. Hurt like a son-of-a-bitch too, waiting for it to heal."


	2. Chapter 2 - Changes

_Author's Note: I'd like to thank shutxthexfrontxdoor for their kind words. I didn't plan on updating again today, but I wrote three chapters yesterday, and I'm bored. And due to back-to-back updates this one isn't really as long as I had wanted it to be, but oh well._

They followed Lucy into the little house she had made her home. Merle and Daryl looked around, "You can take showers, but I don't think I have any fresh clothes that would fit either of you, and the hot water will only last about 30 minutes before it turns to ice." She sighed and turned to face them, "There's only one room, but I'm pretty sure the couch has a fold-out bed in it. If either of you are hungry, I can make some dinner."

Merle grinned, "You always knew how to treat a man."

She rolled her eyes, and turned to the fridge, rummaging through the few parishables she had left. Merle turned to find the bathroom, even if it meant putting his dirty clothes back on, he still wanted a shower.

Once the bathroom door was shut, Lucy turned to Daryl, "What's wrong?" she asked him.

He shook his head, "It's nothin."

She raised one eyebrow, but he didn't respond. She didn't want to push him, she knew he'd talk to her eventually, he always did.

"You look really good since...you know."

"Yeah, but I can't contribute it all to them, it does take some work to stay in this kind of shape."

He nodded, "What's that thing?" he asked, nodding towards her left wrist.

She shrugged, "I haven't quite figured it out yet. I swiped it when I was getting out." She unstrapped the device and they examined it, there was a hollowed out tube, and they could see the glint of something metal inside, but there didn't seem to be a release button or trigger of any sort on it. She sat it down on the counter, "I keep wearing it in case I manage to figure it out."

When Merle was done with his shower, Daryl decided to take one too, even if it was just an excuse to get rid of his torn shirt. Lucy started dinner, and Merle stepped up behind her, slipping an arm around her waist, "You know, Cherokee, I can't remember a time when you looked prettier."

She rolled her eyes, "Don't think you can sweet talk me, Merle. It's not happenin."

"Oh, so you got some muscles and some freaky mutation and you think you're too good for ole Merle now, don't cha?"

She took a deep breath and turned to face him, "I've always been too good for you, you just always had me so strung out I didn't realize it."

"Strippers are only one step up from whores," he sneered. He looked at the feathers in her hair, he couldn't remember ever seeing her without them. She was proud of her heritage, and she had every right to be. She was the great-granddaughter of a cheif. "What would grampy think if he knew how baby-girl made a living?"

"It's nice to know that you don't have to be drunk or high to be a dick."

Merle frowned, "Do you kiss your mama with that mouth?"

Lucy's mother had died seven years before, and he knew it. When her mother got sick, Lucy quit school to take care of her, then she got a job at the local strip club because it was the only way to afford her mother's medical bills. She wasn't happy about it, but waitressing at the bar wasn't enough. That's how she got mixed up with Merle in the first place.

"Don't you ever-"

"Ever what?"

"I'm not afraid of you anymore. Don't think you can get away with treating me like that again."

He leaned in, close to her ear and whispered, "You may have some muscles now, but I'm still bigger than you. You should watch yourself."

Lucy pushed him back, hard enough to slam into the counter, she swept his leg out from under him and he landed on the tile floor. She stepped on his left wrist, and knelt down, pushing her knee into his sternum, "Don't you ever threaten me again Merle Dixon, or I'll feed you to a walker, you understand?"

He managed a laugh, and she pressed harder, putting more of her weight onto his sternum, "I mean it Merle."

"Yes, ma'am, whatever you say." It was pure sarcasm, and she knew it. What had she ever seen in the man anyways?

She stood up and grabbed the deer meat that was still wrapped in deer meat and dropped it next to him, "Pan's in the counter. You can cook your own damn dinner." She stepped over him and he watched her walk into her little bedroom, grinning the whole time. "Same ole Cherokee," he muttered to himself after she slammed the door shut.

Daryl stepped out of the bathroom, half dressed, and looked over the scene. He seen Merle sprawled in the kitchen floor, smirking, "What's going on?" he asked.

Merle grinned and shook his head slightly, "Same ole, same ole."


	3. Chapter 3 - Flashback

_Author's Note: This is a little more of a flashback to sort of show the past relationship between Lucy and Merle (and by association, Daryl). Don't get used to these frequent updates, I wrote three chapters in one day and was anxious to get them out._

**Before:**

Merle walked into the club, the lights were dimmed and horrible music pulsed through the building as girls danced, some on small tables in alcoves, and others on stages throughout the room. Half-naked women walked through the room, some waitressing, serving drinks to patrons; others trying to sell a lap dance. He took a seat in an empty booth, waiting for the person he was supposed to be meeting. As he waited, a girl caught his eye. He hadn't seen her before. They made eye contact, and she put on her best smile.

"Aren't you as pretty as a flower?" he said when she walked closer.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"What's your name?" He didn't really care, he was just being polite. Besides, he knew whatever she said wasn't going to be the real name anyways.

"Cherokee Rose."

He took note of the feathers in her hair and the fringe on the small amount of clothes she wore, "Fitting." He grinned.

"So, is there anything I can do for you?" she asked again, trying her best not to be disgusted by the expression on his face.

"You must be new here." He didn't need to see the nod to know he was right. "I haven't seen you around before." He thought for a moment. "I guess there's no harm in a little bit of pleasure before business, why don't you come over here and give me a lap dance."

She gave another weak smile and a slight nod of her head before beginning the routine she had learned. "What time do you get off?" he asked half-way through the dance.

"Two."

"Well, how about I buy you a drink at 2:15."

Before she could reply a man joined them at the table, giving Merle an apprehensive look. Merle dug some money out of his wallet and handed it to her, "Go on Cherokee, you can finish this later."

She gave both men a smile, accepting the money and happy to leave the table. "Please, there was no need to stop on my account," the man said.

Merle started a reply but she walked away as quickly as she could, not wanting to linger near him for too long. She had only just started doing this, and hadn't quite gotten over her disgust for everything to do with her new job. She supposed that would come with time.

At 2:10 she was dressed and walking across the parking lot to her beaten up BMW. She hadn't seen the man she'd given a lap dance to since his "business" arrived. But of course, nothing good lasts. "You're five minutes early."

She sighed and spun around to see him standing there. He walked over to her, "What do you want?"

"Well that's no way to treat a client."

"I'm sorry, how can I help you?"

"How about that drink?"

"I was told it's a bad idea to date clients."

He chuckled, "Then I guess I should find someone else to get my lapdances from."

The corners of her lips turned down for a moment, and she tried to suppress the grimace.

"Where are my manners? I'm Merle, by the way."

She gave a slight smile, but the look on her face asked why in the world she would possibly need to know that. "Look, I've got to go. I've really got to get home."

"What about that drink?"

"Some other time." She turned and quickly got in her car, leaving Merle standing there, dumbfounded.

A few weeks passed and she'd see Merle frequently visit the club, but he didn't bother talking to her. When he finally did approach her again, she was too broken to object his offer of a drink. After all, it wasn't like she was ever going to have better prospects in a place like that.

A few months passed and she began seeing Merle regularly, in and out of the club. One night, he got her back to his house, and up the stairs, into his small bedroom. Maybe it was because she was broken at that point, ashamed and no longer with any self-respect, maybe it was the alcohol, maybe both, but she got high with him.

For the next month or so, he kept her strung out on a variety of pills and coke. When she wasn't at the club, she was at his house. One night, she and Merle got into a fight, he was upstairs asleep, half naked and coming down off about ten different things. She walked downstairs, half dressed in a pair of panties and a tank top. Daryl cleared his throat when she walked into the kitchen, she barely glanced at him. He was sitting at the table cleaning his hunting gear. She opened the fridge, digging around for something to drink.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

She turned to look at him. His eyes widened at the sight. Her eye was blackened and her lower lip was busted and swollen.

"What the hell happened?"

"He...I..." she gestured helplessy with her hands. "I made him mad."

Daryl shook his head, Merle had turned into their father. Daryl couldn't even begin to count how many times he'd seen his mother looking like this. Strung out and beaten. It was a recurring nightmare. The same thing happened with every woman that walked into Merle's life, if it wasn't just a one-night stand. "That's no reason."

"But..." She sighed, the words were lost. She was in a daze. Her head lolled to the side and her eyelids fluttered. She looked so frail, he was afraid to touch her in case she broke. He stood and took a deep breath, walking over to her and placing his hands on her upper arms anyways.

"Look at me."

Her head tilted slightly and she gazed up at him, her eyes were glazed and foggy from everything she had taken. "You shouldn't let him treat you like this."

The next day she was gone. She sobered up, and for a month she kept away from Merle. When he came to the club, she would switch with another girl so that she wouldn't have to confront him. Eventually she'd always come back to him, either out of fear, not being able to stay sober, or both.


	4. Chapter 4 - Returning

Lucy was a light sleeper. It didn't take much to wake her up, which was good in this world, and his presence alone was enough to wake her. She opened her eyes before he even touched her shoulder, and reacting before thinking, she sat up, grabbed her knife out from under her pillow, and shoved it against his throat.

"Whoa!"

She blinked a few times, and pulled the knife away. "Sorry, Daryl, I didn't realize it was you." She picked up the pillows, pushing them against the headboard. She sat against the pillows, and patted the mattress next to her. "What's wrong?"

He sat down next to her and took a deep breath. It was just like old times, except she would come downstairs and sit on the couch, and they would talk for hours. "It's…" He reached up and scratched the side of his head. "It's just….I'm…"

She reached over and took his hand, "You know you can still talk to me. Nothing has changed between us."

"I'm starting to think I made a mistake," he blurted out.

She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue and explain.

He took another deep breath, "I mean, Merle's family, he's blood, but…" He paused trying to find the right words. "I think I shouldn't have left for him, but family doesn't leave family, right?"

"Normal families don't, but how many times has he left you?"

It was true; Merle had left him to fend for himself on more than one occasion. "I'm not him though."

"No, you're not. You're a good man."

There was silence. Daryl took a deep breath. "I couldn't just leave him out in the woods, alone and defenseless. He'd never make it."

"You want to go back, but you're afraid." It wasn't a question. She knew. "You're in love, aren't you?"

Daryl scowled. "Dixons don't love."

She chuckled, "Don't I know it!"

He nudged her with his shoulder.

"It's that woman, huh? Carol?"

"Maybe, I don't know. It's not just that though. I actually have friends now, and I've abandoned them. And that guy, that Governor, he's not going to let this go. There's going to be a war, and they can't defend themselves. Merle damn-near killed Glenn, and Carl and Beth can't defend themselves, their just kids, and then there's the baby. Hershel only has one leg." He sighed again, and Lucy squeezed his hand. "The Governor has so many people; they're not going to survive this. I have to go back."

"We will."

Daryl looked up at her, "We will?"

Lucy nodded, "Of course."

"What about Merle?"

"What about him? He already made his choice."

"I'm just still not sure I can leave him."

"Daryl, you have to think about you. He's always only thought about himself, now it's your turn. And don't let him think you're being selfish. You're not. You're doing this for people you love."

Daryl nodded.

"Go get some sleep. We'll get up early so we can head over to the prison."

"Okay."

She leaned over and kissed his temple, and then he stood up. "Goodnight Lucy."

"Goodnight Daryl."

He left the room, and she lay back down, rearranging the pillows again to get comfortable before going back to sleep.

As soon as the sun rose the following morning, Lucy was awake. She got out of bed, and packed a small bag with some extra clothes, and a few other things she thought she might need. She got dressed, putting on a pair of shorts, a tank top, and her combat boots, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail before strapping all of her weapons to her body.

She quietly eased her door open, not wanting to wake Merle. Daryl was already awake and getting dressed too. She pressed her finger to her lips, signaling for him to stay quiet. She crept into the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets, looking for anything they could eat during their trek through the woods. Once they were ready, they quietly left the house.

They made it a couple of blocks before they heard shouting behind them. "Hey!" They both turned to see Merle walking their way. "Where are y'all going?"

"Back," Daryl told him.

"Back?"

"Yeah. I have friends there, friends that could be in trouble, they might need me. They will need me."

Merle gave a small chuckle. "You think they really cared about you. They used you. I care about you, I'm the only one that ever did."

"You're something else, you know that."

Merle looked slightly taken aback. Daryl had finally started standing up to him. It was about time.

"Go ahead and go. Don't expect a welcoming committee. And you, Cherokee," he looked Lucy over, "They see you with all that," he gestured at her weaponry, "They're gonna turn you away in a second, just like they did that other chick."

Lucy shook her head and turned around, her fingertips brushed Daryl's forearm, and he turned too. They kept walking towards the prison away from Merle.

So many different thoughts flashed through Merle. He was going to be alone. He didn't have Daryl to push around anymore. Daryl was worth something, not just to Merle, but to other people, and to himself. Merle was conflicted. Did he go with his brother, the only real family he ever had? The only person he truly cared about. Should he swallow his pride and help? Or should he continue being the selfish ass he's always been and go his own way?

Like always, his brother won the battle.

When they got closer to the prison, they could hear the gunshots. They were too late. The trio began sprinting through the woods. Lucy pulled her sword out, and began decapitating walkers that were headed towards the sounds of the gunshots. When they finally got free of the forest, they seen Rick pushed against the fence, trying to defend himself against two walkers. Daryl shot one with the crossbow, and Merle impaled the other with a rod he had found. The battle was ending, and Rick stood, looking at them. He glanced at Merle and Lucy, then to Daryl, and gave a slight nod.

They looked up towards the prison, there were walkers in the field, and the gates were busted. It would be a long battle to safety.


	5. Chapter 5 - Staying

_Author's Note: I'm going to stick somewhat to the TV show, just for a sort of timeline, but for the most part, I'll be doing my own thing. I don't want you to feel like you're reading what you already watched._

Everyone sat gathered in the cell block, Merle locked on the other side. He and Rick had been, and still were, arguing about the situation with "The Governor". Merle was finally silent for a few minutes, and then his attention turned to Lucy. "Why am I stuck in here, and not her?" he asked Rick, while staring at her.

"She's not a threat to any of us."

Merle raised his eyebrows, "Really? She came struttin up lookin like Tomb Raider with all her weapons, but she's no threat?"

Lucy stood, "What are you getting at?"

He smirked, "They know me better than they do you. They know what to expect out of me, they don't know a thing about you."

"The only person I'm a threat to is you."

He laughed, "Cherokee, Cherokee, Cherokee, my pretty little flower."

"I'm not yours anymore."

"Won't you come over here and give Merle a kiss?" he disregarded her statement.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Their argument continued for a few minutes. Merle started singing, improvising the song as he went and crooning 'Cherokee Rose' as he went.

"Will you please shut up?"

He smiled, "Am I getting under your skin?"

She walked over to him, glaring, "I will scalp you."

He raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

She nodded, "Afterwards, I'll cut off your head, put it on a stick, and parade around with it.

He chuckled, "No you won't."

She reached through the bars to grab the collar of his shirt, but he stepped just out of her reach. "What makes you think I won't?" she asked, her arm resting on the bar, waiting for him to get too close, the other gripped another bar.

"We care too much about each other, that's why the sex was always so good."

Her eyes narrowed, "It was good because I'm crazy."

"Crazy like your grandma, or was it your great grandma who killed her husband?"

"Does it matter? She got away with it, didn't she?"

He smiled again.

Their arguing continued until she was clinging to the bars, snarling, and clawing at him. When she finally stopped, he stepped towards her. She reached with her right hand to hit him, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her against the bars. His right arm slipped through, and wrapped around her waist, holding her to him. With her left arm she punched him repeatedly, in the shoulder.

His lips fell against hers, and her right arm jerked out of his grip. She shoved him, and slid away. He stood there laughing and smiling. She turned away, wiping her mouth with her forearm.

As she walked by, she unsheathed her sword, turned, and threw it. It spun through the air, flying in between the bars just inches from Merle's head. It hit the wall, and fell to the floor.

"She tried to kill me!" Merle shouted, shocked and no longer smiling. She smirked and turned around. She shoved past Maggie and Glenn, who were seated on the stairs, and ignored Rick's shouts. She walked by Daryl, ignoring him as well.

"I'll go talk to her," Daryl said, in hopes of calming her down. He followed her outside. "What the hell were you thinking in there?"

"He made me mad."

"Really? That's your excuse?"

She nodded, still not turning to face him.

He scoffed, "That's a pathetic excuse."

She shrugged, "I don't even know why I'm still here. You can go be happy with Carol, and you still got your brother. I can leave."

"You can't just leave."

"Why not?" she asked, finally turning around.

"We need you."

"Why? Because your sheriff got y'all in a mess?"

"It's not Rick's fault. The governor is a psychopath, and he's coming after us because of…" he stopped for a moment, "Because of Merle, and Maggie and Glenn, and me."

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter, and it's not my war."

"Lucy, please."

She glared at Daryl; her mouth pinched too almost nothing, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm begging you. Think about Carl and Beth…and the baby."

She sighed heavily.

"Please."

She had never seen Daryl look so desperate. The corners of her lips twitched and she looked away. There were walkers clinging to the gate all around them. "Fine. But Merle better watch it. He's not shoving me around like he used to."

Daryl shook his head, "I won't let him."

She gave a slight nod, and he walked inside with her. She walked down the stairs, avoiding the look Rick was giving her. Maggie and Glenn moved quickly out of the way. The gate securing the cell block, the one Merle had been locked behind, was now open. She could hear Merle and Hershel quoting scripture, and she frowned.

Maybe Merle wasn't the same person she used to know. But she wasn't the same person he once knew either.


	6. Chapter 6 - Reconciliation

Daryl walked back inside from keeping watch. With the perimeter breached, and the Governor out for blood, there were always people on lookout. He sat by himself for a while, just watching.

He heard the door open behind him, and turned slightly, Carol was walking towards him.

He turned his attention back to the walkers that were roaming around. Carol squatted down next to him. "I'm glad you're back," she whispered.

Daryl was silent.

"I was worried about you, out there on your own."

"I wasn't on my own, I had Merle, and it didn't take long for Lucy to find us either."

Carol pursed her lips together, not quite sure how she felt about the newcomer.

"You belong here, with people who love you."

Daryl stole a look at her, and then quickly turned his attention back to the walkers.

"We need you here," she told him. "Rick's losing his mind, Hershel only has one leg, and Glenn…Glenn's not the same. He's been on a rampage since they came back from Woodbury. I never realized he was so headstrong before."

"I can't say I blame him," Daryl told her, remembering how the Governor was going to make him and Merle fight to the death. "I can't say I blame Rick either. He killed his best friend; his wife was sleeping with his best friend. Then Lori died. I'd me a mess too."

"I don't mind you defending them, but you have to realize, we need a leader, a good leader. That could be you."

Daryl pursed his lips, thinking about it. He shook his head, "I'm no leader."

"Think about it." Carol stood, her hand rested on his shoulder for just a moment, and he looked up at her. "I know you don't think we should be here. T-Dog called it a tomb too, and I started to think it was, before you found me." She paused, "We can make it a home, but we need you."

She turned and walked away, leaving him thinking.

That night, everyone sat or stood around, listening to Beth sing. Glenn and Maggie sat cuddling on the stairs, Carol sat with Carl and Beth in the floor, Michonne was off to the side, and Rick, Daryl, and Hershel stood across the room. Rick was holding his baby. She could just barely hear the three men talking from where she stood above them. "I'll take Michonne, you stay here and watch your brother," Rick said to Daryl as Merle walked into the room.

"Lucy can."

She peered over the railing to see Rick shake his head slightly, "After what happened today, I'm not sure she should be left alone with him."

"Lucy and Merle have…a rough past together, but she's not going to hurt him."

"Didn't you see the sword fly at his head?" Hershel asked.

Daryl sighed, "She missed on purpose."

"I know you want to believe that because she's your friend, and he's your brother, but I still don't think it's a good idea."

"Alright. I'll stay."

Their conversation ended, and soon after Beth quit singing. Lucy stood there as everyone else went to their own cells. Merle still stood there in the dark. Lucy turned away from the railing, thought for a moment, then walked to the stairway. As she started to descend, she saw Merle walking out of the room. "Hey," she whispered, hoping only to catch his attention.

He turned and looked up at her; she motioned for him to come to her. He thought for a moment, and then did as she had asked.

As he ascended the stairs, she nodded to the door leading outside then started for it. He caught up to her, and they walked outside. They stood in silence for a few minutes, Lucy hadn't completely thought out what she wanted to say to him. The wind blew, picking up her hair and blowing it around. "What did you bring me out here for? You gonna kill me while everyone sleeps?"

"If you thought I was going to do that then why did you follow me?"

He shrugged. "I guess if I'm going to die, I'd rather it be at the hands of someone I know then one of those things," he nodded at one of the walkers. It had noticed them and was pressed against the fence, his…its hands grasped the metal and it moaned, hoping one of them would come close enough to grab.

"I'm sorry…about that. Throwing the sword at you and everything."

He shrugged, "I knew you'd miss."

She raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk spreading across her lips, "Oh, really?"

He smiled, "You can deny it all you want, Cherokee, but I know you care about me."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true." He stepped forward, and reached up, tucking a strand of windblown hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered, touching her neck. He took a deep breath. "I cared about you too, even when it seemed like I didn't."

She didn't say anything; she just looked down, pulling away from his touch.

"You know I won't do anything to hurt you."

"That's a little hard to believe."

He frowned, "That was the past. Things are different now. I'm different now."

"I am too, and don't you forget that. I'll say it again and again, I'm not afraid of you anymore."

He stepped closer; his hand came to rest on her hip. "I never once wanted to hurt you, I didn't want to be like my father, but between the drugs and the booze, it was hard sometimes to tell the difference between reality and imagination."

She took a deep breath. She looked up at him; there was something in his eyes, something different. She couldn't figure it out.

He stepped forward again, almost closing the gap between them.

"Good night, Merle," she whispered, pulling away from him, away from his touch. He was her past, she had to look to the future, and that meant not getting attached to anyone there so that she could leave when this war was over.


	7. Chapter 7 - Leaving

_Author's Note: I don't actually have an author's note; I just have a need to let everyone know I have a busted lip. It happened while I was doing kickboxing this morning (or yesterday morning since it'll probably already be Monday when I post this._

Daryl stepped out of his cell and seen Beth with the baby. Rick, Carl, and Michonne had already left. He looked around, the cell block was empty. "Where is everybody?"

"Outside, you probably want to see for yourself."

He raised an eyebrow at her before proceeding to the door. Maggie, Glenn, Hershel, and Carol sat on steel bleachers watching. Daryl shielded his eyes and focused on Merle and Lucy. They stood a few feet away, Lucy's fists were up, blocking her face, and she was standing in a southpaw stance. Merle stood in front of her, mimicking her. She threw punch after punch, and he skillfully dodged each one.

He stopped and dropped her fists, "Your form is a little…not good."

She scowled.

He moved behind her, "Tuck your thumb in before you break it," he told her covering her fist with his hand. "Now, jab, jab, cross, hook, uppercut." He stepped back, and she threw the punches. "Not bad." He stepped back up to her, and placed his hand, and stump, on her waist, "When you cross, turn your hips too, gives it more power." As she punched, he turned her foot out as she rotated.

He returned to his fighting stance in front of her, and the fight continued. "What's going on?" Daryl asked, sitting down next to Carol.

"They're sparring," Glenn answered.

"Wasn't she just trying to behead him yesterday?" Maggie asked.

Daryl shook his head, "No, she was gonna scalp him, there's a difference."

He looked at Carol, who didn't say anything; she just peered at him out of the corner of her eye.

"They've been at it all morning," Hershel said.

He watched the fight unfold. She'd throw punches, backing him up, and he'd block or dodge each one, and return punches with his left hand. Lucy backed up and bounced from foot to foot. Merle came at her; she ducked a punch, and then threw more punches. She turned slightly, and then landed a kick against his shoulder. He stumbled back a few steps then came at her again. She danced around him, throwing punches and kicks.

"Enough," Merle finally said, panting slightly, "I'm done."

She dropped her fists, "I win."

He scoffed, "You didn't win."

"You forfeited."

"No, I just put it on hold."

She rolled her eyes, smirking, "Whatever you say, old man. You just don't have the energy."

"I'm not that old, and I have plenty of energy," he said, returning her smirk. He stepped closer to her, his hand slipped around her waist, "I'm just saving it for something better."

She raised an eyebrow, "Well you'll be waiting a long time," she said, placing her hand on his chest and giving him a light shove before walking away.

He grinned, "I know you want me. You can't deny it, Cherokee."

She smiled, and waved a dismissive hand in the air as she walked back inside.

He let out a chuckle. Daryl shook his head.

"At least they seem to be getting along now," Hershel said.

* * *

Everyone went back inside, and Daryl found Lucy in her chosen cell, repacking her bag. "What are you doing?"

"If Rick can go on a run, so can I."

"We need you here."

"I'll be back."

"When?"

She shrugged. "Soon. A day or two, maybe three."

"Lucy, you can't leave right now."

"Yes, I can. Look, it's important to me, I have to do this." She started strapping her weapons to herself.

"Where are you going?"

"That CDC you said you went to."

"I also said it was incinerated."

"There has to be something left; anything. I need to go see. I also want to try to get back into that bunker. It's been long enough it probably won't be a problem." She slung her bag over her shoulder, and left the cell, headed for the door.

"Lucy, that's insane. You can't get back into Atlanta, it's completely overrun, it's a suicide mission!" Everyone turned to watch what was unfolding. "Lucy!"

She turned around, waiting for him to continue his pointless argument. Merle walked over to him.

"She's leaving."

Merle looked at her.

"I'll be back." She turned and walked out the door. Merle and Daryl caught up to her.

"Nothing's gonna change your mind, huh?" Merle asked.

She shook her head. "I've needed to do this for a while. I just wanted to wait until after winter. Then I ran into you two."

"I'm coming with you," Merle said.

"No." She shook her head, "If the Governor shows up before I get back, you're going to be needed here. Besides, it's too risky taking you into Atlanta. What if..." She trailed off, but they knew what she was thinking, _what if you get bitten?_

"If you're leaving, at least take the motorcycle. It's quicker, it'll get you in and out," Daryl handed her the key.

"It's loud."

"But it's fast. Faster than them; trust me."

She closed her hand over the keys. She hugged Daryl, and kissed his cheek, then walked over to Merle, and hugged him as well.

"Don't I get a kiss?" Merle asked.

She smirked and held his face still while she stood on tip toe to kiss his cheek as well.

They opened and closed the gates, listening to the motorcycle as she rode through, the walkers chased after her, only to be left in dust.


	8. Chapter 8 - Research

_Author's Note: Two in one day, what? Yeah, I'm bored, and I've had this chapter stuck in my head since before I started writing. So enjoy. (Also, I want to thank everyone that's been kind enough to leave such nice reviews.)_

It had been a week since Lucy left, Daryl and Merle took turns sitting outside every day, watching the road, hoping for her return.

"We have to go find her," Daryl finally said, one evening, walking back inside.

"We can't leave," Rick said.

"We have to. She could…she could be hurt somewhere."

"She's a tough girl, she'll be fine," Merle said, trying to calm his brother down, even though he was feeling the same way.

Daryl threw a chair against the wall, causing everybody to jump a little; it had been a long time since they had seen this kind of behavior out of him. He stomped off to his cell and threw himself onto his bed.

A few minutes later Carol appeared in the door way, "What?" he asked.

The corner of her lip twitched, "I know you're worried about her, but what did you expect? You know how dangerous Atlanta is."

He shook his head, "I should've never let her go."

"Daryl, you can't blame yourself for it." She sat down on the bed beside him.

"I gave her the key to the damn motorcycle. I opened the gates. I might as well have put an arrow through her head myself."

"Daryl…"

He shook his head, not wanting to hear what she was going to say.

She took a deep breath. "I know how you feel. Every day waiting for her to come walking through the door, smiling, laughing. You think you can do something, but you can't."

"Are we talking about Lucy or Sophia now?"

She sighed, "What I'm trying to say is that you can't beat yourself up over it. Whether…something's happened, or she's left for good, or whatever, you can't blame yourself, for her or Sophia."

There was a long pause.

"I know you did everything you could to try to find Sophia. And I know you'll do everything you can for Lucy, but some things are out of your control." She leaned over and kissed his cheek before leaving him alone.

* * *

Lucy stumbled into the bathroom and fell more than sat on the floor. She unwrapped her leg, it looked nasty. A chunk of meat was missing, and she could still see some bone. The skin around the wound was ragged and sort of dangling. She trimmed away the dead, ruined skin, and then got the bottle of alcohol out of the cabinet. She bit down, trying not to scream as she poured the contents out on her leg. It stung and burned. She may heal, but she certainly didn't want to get an infection. She dried the skin with a hand towel before wrapping her leg back up with fresh, clean bandages. She made her way to the tub, and turned the water on. She stripped down and slipped into the tub, leaving her bandaged leg propped on the edge to keep the bandages dry.

After her bath, she crawled into bed and fell quickly to sleep.

How had she been so clueless? She didn't even notice the walker under the desk until it grabbed her leg, before she had a chance to kill it; it had bitten into the muscle of her left calf. She sat there for a day, unable to put any weight on her leg. She wrapped it with one of her shirts until the next day when she was able to make it to the infirmary by crawling and find bandages and antibiotics.

Two days later, she could walk, but it hurt like hell.

When morning came, she checked the bandages, they were bloody, but it wasn't too bad yet. She pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a t-shirt, and then she put on long socks and her boots, hoping to hide the injury. She stuffed as many pairs of pants into her bag as she could find.

With her weapons strapped to her, she made her way back outside, and strapped her bag to the bike.

Merle came running back inside, "Daryl! She's here!"

Daryl grabbed his crossbow and came running back out, everyone following behind. He and Merle opened the gates and she drove through.

The second she turned off the motorcycle, the brothers were at her side, "What happened? Why were you gone so long? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she told them. Then in a quieter voice, so only they could hear, she added, "I'll tell you later."

"Find what you were looking for?" Rick asked.

She smiled. She swung her leg over the bike, standing up, trying not to wince when she put her weight on her left leg. She did everything she could to prevent herself from limping.

"We were worried about you," Daryl said, as they walked back inside the prison, one Dixon on each side of her.

"Daryl was."

She looked at Merle, smirking, "I know you missed me too."

He grinned, causing her smirk to spread to a grin as well.

She went to her cell and dropped the bags on her bed before pulling out a laptop and a bunch of hard drives, along with a few folders.

"What's all this?" Merle asked, appearing in her doorway.

"This is my file; it shows all of the tests they performed on me, and the results, as well as everything they injected me with." She handed him the folder, and Merle opened it. "The rest of the folders are the other people that had been in my group. These hard drives contain all of the data from the different test groups."

"What are you going to do with all of it?"

She shrugged, "I'm going to read all of it, of course. I'd like to know everything about me that I can find. Then maybe one day we'll find someone who can create a cure with this information."

"You have a lot of faith." He took a deep breath, "The way I see it and this is never going to end. We're always going to be fighting, fighting for a roof, for food, for everything. We're in a fight right now."

Her mouth twitched. "You think it's silly."

He sighed, "I think it's good to have hope, but you might have too much hope." They stood in silence for a few minutes. "So do you want to tell me what happened? I know it didn't take a week to get all this junk."

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"What happened?"

She sighed and kicked off her boots. She peeled off her left sock, and took the skinny jeans off, Merle grinned, and she rolled her eyes, scowling. His grin disappeared and his eyes widened as he seen the bandage on her leg. She sat back down and unwrapped it.

"My God," he muttered.

"It was worse."


	9. Chapter 9 - Confrontation

As Lucy rewrapped her leg she told Merle what had happened. "Jeez!" He walked over to the bed and sat down, "Are you gonna be okay?"

She nodded, "It's healing, slowly, but it'll be fine."

He took a deep breath, "You gonna tell Daryl?"

"I told him I would."

"You know he's gonna freak out, he's not good at handling things."

"You don't give him a lot of credit. Daryl's tougher than you would think."

"That's because he has me as a brother."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Well, he does share your DNA, and you are the toughest person I know. Damn, you cut off your own hand."

He grinned, "Just trying to survive."

She didn't say anything; they stared at each other for a few minutes in silence. Merle leaned a little closer. His hand came up, and touched the side of her cheek, her skin was so soft. His hand was calloused and rough. She shuddered slightly at his touch.

His thumb ran over her skin, she let out a deep breath, she didn't even realize she'd been holding it. He was just centimeters away from her now. His lips pressed against hers. She felt his tongue against her lips and she opened her mouth. His arm wrapped around her waist and he pulled her against him. She pulled away, "Merle, stop." She placed her hands on his chest, pushing further away from him. "I don't…I can't…" she shook her head, searching for the right words.

She looked down at her lap. She was still pants-less. She stood, wincing when she put her weight on her left leg. Even if she had wanted to hook up with Merle, it was daytime and everyone was awake. Anyone could just walk by the cell door and see them. How did Glenn and Maggie manage?

She leaned back against the wall, trying to keep the weight off of her injury. She bent down to pick up the jeans. "I'm sorry," she muttered, more to herself then to Merle.

He just sat there, running through his emotions. He had been so worried about her for the last week, and then he had felt so much elation when he heard the motorcycle and seen her driving up to the prison. That was once again replaced with worry when he seen the chunk of flesh that had been ripped out of her leg, but she said she'd be okay. So she would be, right? She had shown him and Daryl the scars on her shoulder when she had been bitten getting out of Atlanta the first time, and he had even witnessed her heal.

She winced, trying to put her jeans back on. "Here, let me help you," he said, standing up, and reaching out to her.

She was about to reject when Carl walked by the cell, he seen the bandage on her leg, and his eyes widened. "What's that from?" he asked.

"It's nothing," she shook her head, trying even faster to get the pants on. She stumbled and fell into Merle. He helped hold her up while she shoved her leg in.

"Did you get bit?" Carl asked, a little too loud, getting the attention of the rest of the group.

"Carl, it's nothing."

"What happened?" asked Rick, walking up.

"She might be bit," Carl said.

Rick looked at her, "Are you?"

"I'll be fine." She said it a little louder and more defensively then she had intended.

"Lucy, if you've been bitten we need to know. We have to be able to protect ourselves."

Daryl appeared next to Rick, "What happened?"

"She's bit," Carl said.

Lucy scowled at the kid. "Can't you mind your own business?"

Daryl rushed into the room, "Let me see."

"Daryl, there's no point if she's been bitten."

Daryl ignored him. She pushed the pants back down and Merle assisted her back to the cot and sat down next to her. She unwrapped the bandages, and everyone's eyes widened as they all gasped.

"Hershel!" Daryl yelled.

Hershel made his way over on his crutch, he frowned when he seen the wound. "That looks bad."

"Can you do anything?"

"All we can do is keep it clean and bandaged, and hope it doesn't get infected."

"Were you bitten?" Rick asked again.

She ignored him. It wasn't until Hershel looked at her, expecting an answer. She sighed dramatically, "It was days ago."

Hershel stood up and left the room to retrieve fresh bandages.

"Days ago?! You're infected!" Rick started shouting, stepping closer to her. "You were bitten and you came back here, where there is a baby—"

He was cut off by Merle who jumped up, and shoved Rick back. "You better watch yourself!"

For a moment Rick looked stunned. "So you'd rather her be here and turn and put us all in danger?"

Merle was about to throw a punch at Rick, but Daryl jumped in between them, "Stop it! Damn!" He looked at Merle, and just shook his head. Then he turned to Rick. Merle just sat back down.

"What do you want to do? Just kill her? You didn't do that when Hershel was bitten."

"That was different, I did that immediately, and even then there was no guarantee he was going to survive. This happened days ago."

"What about Jim though? He was bitten, and you didn't kill him."

"That was before we found out there wasn't a cure."

"But how long did that take, a day? She said it happened days ago, she'll be okay."

Rick frowned.

"If you don't believe she'll be okay, just cuff her to the bed."

Lucy frowned.

"Why don't you just tell them?"

"Would you believe it if you didn't see it yourself?"

"Why don't you show them?"

She shook her head, "I need to be able to heal this."

Merle's arm slipped around her, and he pulled her close. She laid her head on his shoulder.

Daryl convinced Rick to cuff Lucy to the bed, and wait and see that nothing bad would happen.


	10. Chapter 10 - Captain

_Author's Note: I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone for the reviews, especially Shutxthexfrontxdoor. I've been having so much fun talking to her about a mutual hatred for a particular character. The song is "In All My Dreams" from The Devil's Carnival. I didn't put all of the lyrics, that would be insane._

The following evening Hershel walked into Lucy's cell to check her wound and change her bandages. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She shrugged, "Good. Bored. I'm tired of just laying here."

He gave her a smile, and started unwrapping her leg. She saw his eyes widen.

"What's wrong?"

"It's…"

She arched her eyebrows, "Yes?"

"It's scabbed over. You're healing very fast. Unusually fast."

She looked over at the stack of folders sitting on a small table. "The one on top," she said, pointing at them. "That one is mine."

He picked it up and flipped open the folder. Paper clipped to one side was her picture, she looked terrified. Her long hair was tangled and wet, and she wore a plain grey t-shirt with a serial number on it. He scanned the pages that had been attached to the other side. It had her basic information like name and date of birth, her blood type, height, weight, et cetera. Then there were pages of test results, numerous blood, endurance, speed, strength.

"They were trying to fix their mistake before it got out of control. They thought they could fix their mistake, but the epidemic spread so quickly."

"Why didn't you just tell us?"

"Would you believe it if you didn't see it for yourself?"

He shook his head, "Probably not."

"I didn't have a need to tell anyone sooner, and then after this happened, I could only wait for it to heal. I didn't want to cut myself open on purpose; it would slow down the process."

"So you're not going to turn?" Hershel asked.

She reached up and pulled the collar of her shirt down, showing the scars on her shoulder, "I didn't last time."

He sighed and sat the folder back down, "I'll go get the key for your cuffs."

She smiled.

Merle appeared at her door a few minutes later, "How you feelin' sugar plum?"

She raised an eyebrow; he very rarely called her that. "I'm fine."

He looked at her still unwrapped leg. "You're lookin better." He sat down on the bed next to her. He looked at her. She wore an oversized t-shirt, and a pair of boy shorts style underwear. Her legs were still so thin, but he could see the well-toned muscles. He knew underneath the t-shirt she had well-defined abs. He took a deep breath, and let it out a little loudly.

She smirked, "This must remind you of old times, me half-naked and cuffed to the bed."

"I never cuffed you to the bed."

"No," she shook her head slightly, "you just held my wrists down so I couldn't move."

He sighed and looked down at his lap.

"You even broke my wrist once or twice."

"And how many times did I crack your ribs?"

"Once, but you got four of them. And you broke my nose, busted my lip so many times…" she trailed off, remembering his brutality.

He frowned; he had hurt her so many times, not just emotional wounds, but physical ones. He had broken her.

They could hear Beth start to sing below them, "_The ship, it swayed, heave ho, heave ho, on the dark and stormy blue…"_

"She has a great voice," Lucy remarked.

Merle nodded. "You do too."

She didn't reply.

Rick walked in; wordlessly he unlocked the cuffs, and then left the room. Lucy sat up, tucking her right leg in, and rubbed her wrist that had been cuffed.

"Would you like for me to wrap your leg back up?" Merle asked.

She shook her head, "It'll be fine."

He frowned again. "You'll know I'll never be able to say I'm sorry enough times."

She pursed her lips together. "Words don't mean much."

"…_Oh, I will sleep when we reach shore, and pray we get there soon…"_

Lucy stood, slightly wobbly. She bounced slightly, testing her leg to see how much weight she could bare to put on it. Then she grabbed her shorts.

"Lucy," Merle said his voice low. He never ever, in all the time they knew each other, called her that.

She looked at him.

"I would do anything to prove to you that I'll never hurt you again."

She put her shorts on and fastened them. "It's gonna take a lot."

He nodded, "I know."

"…_A storm is brewin in the south; it's time you go to sleep…"_

Lucy stood there, staring at him. There was pain in his eyes.

"Tell me what I have to do," he pretty much whispered.

She stepped closer to him, and he reached out, taking her hand. He pulled her closer, and leaned his head against her. She placed her hand on his head; he wrapped his other arm around her, holding her.

"…_Like Jonah, we'll be swallowed whole and spat back teeth and bones…"_

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to trust him again. She pulled away from him, but he didn't let go of her hand. He stood.

She stared into his eyes for a few moments. He let go of her hand and reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

She turned away and left the cell. She walked down the steps were everyone sat around, listening to Beth sing.

Merle followed right behind her.

"…_But I don't want to go to sleep, in all my dreams I drown…" _Beth brought her song to a close.

"Captain, captain, I will do your chores, I will warm your cot at night, and mop your cabin floors. Scold me, hold me, I'll be yours to keep. The only thing I beg of you, don't make me go to sleep. The sky it flashed, heave ho, heave ho, his pillow dulled the brink, the curtains ran between my legs as we began to sink…" Everyone turned to look at Lucy as she continued the song.

Beth joined back in with her, "I closed my eyes, heave ho, heave ho, as the ship was rent and felled. Eddie's in the water headed to the mouth of Hell. Hush, now, hush, love, here's your gown, there's the bed, lantern's down. I'm begging you, please wake me up. In all my dreams I…"

Everyone was still looking at Lucy. "I didn't know you could sing," Daryl said.

She shrugged, "My mother played the piano. When I was a little girl, I'd sit on the bench beside her, and we'd sing together. She had the most beautiful voice."

"Do you play too?" Beth asked.

Lucy shrugged, "She taught me a little bit, I was never very good though. I would always hit the wrong keys."


	11. Chapter 11 - Memories

_Author's Note: I find Crispin Glover on my TV to be very inspiring. He's such a beautiful man. Apparently I have an odd taste in men. Also, according to my mother, I have psychological issues because I'm 21 and have a crush on Michael Rooker, who is in his 50s. At least I'm not obsessed with Tom Cruise like her. Anyways, this chapter is mostly to show not just Merle and Lucy's past, but the differences in how Merle sees their past, and how Lucy sees their past._

Merle lay in bed, unable to sleep. He was consumed by thoughts of Lucy. Consumed by thoughts of their past.

_It was evening when Merle got home; the sun was starting to set. He walked in the house, and into the kitchen. Daryl sat at the table, his crossbow and various other hunting items spread out on the table. "What are you doing?" Merle asked._

"_Going hunting in the morning."_

"_Where's Cherokee?"_

"_Upstairs. She's been on the phone with the insurance company all afternoon."_

_Merle grabbed a beer out of the fridge, and headed upstairs to his room. He opened the door and found Lucy lying across the bed, asleep. Her long hair was pulled back, a feather dangling from the elastic. She had the phone pressed to her ear in one hand, and a pen in the other. There was a yellow legal pad with some writing under her head. Papers were scattered around her. _

_He took the phone from her hand; he could hear the disconnected tone without even putting it to his ear. Clearly she had fallen asleep while on hold. He was about to press the 'end call' button when it died. He placed it on the charger, then gathered the papers, and the notebook, and put them on the night stand. He plucked the pen from her hand and laid it aside._

_He scooped her up, and laid her back down so that she wasn't taking up the whole bed. In her sleep she looked so peaceful and perfect. Asleep, with her face turned, he almost couldn't see how hollow her cheeks were; awake she looked almost skeletal, especially since she had such high, prominent cheekbones. With her eyes closed, he couldn't see how dull they had become. With her oversized shirt on, he couldn't tell just how thin she was, you could see her ribs because she was so thin._

_She mumbled something in her sleep, and her eyelids fluttered for a moment, he reached out and caressed her cheek, then kissed her forehead before heading back downstairs to make a sandwich._

Merle yawned and rolled over; he closed his eyes, trying to force himself to sleep.

Lucy sat outside on the bleachers, watching the corpses roam the prison yard. She had her bow and quiver of arrows sitting next to her, just in case. She sighed, thinking about what had transpired between her and Merle earlier. After everything that she'd been through with him, it would be foolish to take him back.

_Lucy walked in, quietly closing the bedroom door behind her. She carefully sat down on the bed, not wanting to wake Merle up. She pulled off her boots, then stood up to slip her skinny jeans off. When she sat back down on the bed, Merle rolled over, "You're home late." _

_She pursed her lips, debating on how to answer him, "You didn't come pick me up. I had to catch a ride home with Marissa."_

"_Which one's that?"_

"_One of the bartenders, she has the long curly brown hair, bangs, dimples."_

"_The one with the body like a fourteen year old?"_

_Lucy frowned, "Yes, her."_

"_So, what took so long?"_

"_She had to stop by her sister's house and pick something up first."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes, really."_

_He continued to argue with her, as if he thought she had been lying to him. _

_Finally, she stood and turned to face the bed, "Well, maybe if you came to pick me up on time like you were supposed to I wouldn't have been late. Then you wouldn't have to worry about where I was."_

_He stood up, and slapped her._

_She pressed her hand to her stinging cheek. Lucy tried to fight off the tears._

"_I hate you Merle Dixon," she muttered, turning and leaving the room. _

_He followed her down the stairs, "Cherokee, stop!" She didn't slow down. He grabbed her wrist, spinning her around. His eyes were red, he was still high off of whatever had knocked him out, and his breath smelled like alcohol as well._

_Lucy frowned and he pulled her closer, his grip tight. "Merle, let go, you're hurting me." She tried to jerk her arm free, but he held tighter. "Merle," she whimpered._

"_Oh, Sugar plum, you know I didn't mean to do that."_

"_Let go."_

_His arm slid around her waist. She held her bruised wrist against her chest. His lips pressed against hers. "Why don't you come to bed, we'll talk about this in the morning."_

_She blinked away the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes, and followed him up the stairs._

Merle opened the door, stepping outside. The sun was just starting to rise, and there was still a gray color to the sky. He seen Lucy sitting by herself, her hair was pulled back into a braid, and feathers dangled at the end of it. Smoke curled up into the air in front of her.

He joined her, "Where'd you get the smokes?" he asked.

"I picked them up when I was in Atlanta."

He plucked the cigarette from her fingers, "You know these things will kill you," he said, taking a drag off of it.

"I'm sure that's the least of our worries right now."

"Yeah, better than dying from one of those things. Have you been up all night too?"

She nodded and yawned.

His arm slipped around her and he pulled her closer. She laid her head on his shoulder, too tired to fight his advances. They sat there in peaceful silence for a few minutes, sharing the cigarette.

Lucy squinted her eyes, trying to focus on the edge of the woods. She stood and stepped down off the bleachers.

"What is it?" Merle asked.

"There's something out there."

"Yeah, more of those things."

She shook her head, "No, it's something else." She walked closer to the gate.

Merle joined her. "Blondie," he muttered.

"Go wake the others," Lucy said, grabbing her bow and slinging the quiver over her shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12 - Psychopaths

_Author's Note: In case you don't realize it from the following, I really, really, really hate Andrea. I can't wait until she dies. I hope Rick, the Governor, and Michonne fight over who gets to kill her. And I was trying to figure out why in the world Crispin Glover made me want to write the other night. It's not like he has anything to do with The Walking Dead. Then it occurred to me, Crispin was in Alice in Wonderland with Alan Rickman's voice. Alan Rickman was in Dogma, with Jason Mewes, and Jason was in Mallrats with Michael Rooker. So, yay! A connection! Now my ramblings don't seem nearly as pointless._

Andrea sat in the chair, her wrists bound behind it. Lucy sat at the table, smirking. Lucy picked up another knife, and examined it. She looked at Andrea, took aim, and then threw it. The knife whizzed past Andrea's head, hitting the wall behind her, and falling to the floor. Andrea flinched.

"Will you quit doing that?" Lucy asked. "You'll cause me to miss."

Andrea's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "You have been missing."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Could you be any stupider? I do NOT miss. I haven't been trying to hit you, but if you keep doing that, I might."

Merle walked into the room, and sat next to Lucy, his arms crossed over his chest. He wore a smirk on his face as well. "Merle, can you please get her to stop?"

"Now why would I want to do that? I seen you standing there watching when Phillip wanted me to kill my brother. My own flesh and blood."

"I wanted to stop it, I was going to try, they wouldn't let me near him."

"Merle—"

"I don't want to hear it. Save it for someone who cares, or, better yet, someone you're fucking, because clearly that's the only way you're capable of caring about anyone other than yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, give it a rest, Andrea. You think I don't know you've been warming his bed every night since you got to Woodbury? Hell, everybody knows. You were fucking Shane too, and probably that old man, Dale."

"You don't have any idea—"

Merle cut her off, not caring to listen to her defense. "I'm guessing you haven't slept with Glenn because of Maggie, and Daryl's too smart, even if he don't seem like it…" he continued and Lucy stood, retrieving her knives.

When Merle stopped, Andrea remained silent. When she finally did open her mouth, it was to ask, "Who's the psycho bitch?"

Lucy laughed from behind her.

"You may want to be careful what you say about Cherokee, she'll cut your tongue out."

Lucy nodded, walking in a circle around Andrea, her fingertips grazing along Andrea's shoulders and back.

"It runs in the family, doesn't it, Sugarplum?"

Lucy nodded and smiled.

"Her great-grandmother killed her own husband and got away with it."

Lucy nodded again.

"Rick!" Andrea shouted, "Glenn! Daryl!"

Lucy slapped her across the face, "Will you shut up? You'll wake up the baby."

Andrea glared at Lucy.

"Besides," she continued, "It won't do you any good. Rick, Daryl, and Hershel are meeting with your precious Phillip. And Glenn's outside on watch duty."

"So, I'm stuck in the crazy ward with you two."

Merle smirked, and Lucy sat down on Andrea's lap, straddling her. The tip of one of the knives touched the corner of Andrea's mouth, "I'd watch my tongue if I were you. Wouldn't want the knife to slip, now would you? It might ruin that pretty face. Then what good would you be?" Lucy began laughing again.

"What's so funny?"

"Me. You're not that pretty. Kind of masculine if you ask me."

Lucy grinned as the knife trailed over Andrea's lips.

Andrea just stared, "You can't do this."

Lucy pressed the flat of the knife against Andrea's cheek, "Who's going to stop me? Merle?" Lucy grinned, "I promised him I'd scalp him once his hair got long enough for me to grasp, didn't I?"

"That should be any day now," Merle replied. "I'm expecting her to do it in my sleep."

Lucy yanked the elastic out of Andrea's hair, and ran her fingers through the blonde curls. "Your hair though, it's so long." She twisted it around her fist and yanked Andrea's head back. She stood, the tip of the knife trailed against Andrea's hairline, "It would be so easy. Just the smallest of incisions and then I'll just start to peel it back. I've never done it myself, but my ancestors used to do it all the time."

"Where did you even find her?" Andrea's question was directed at Merle.

"I didn't, she found me, my sweet Cherokee Rose," he began singing his song, crooning Lucy's stage name as he always did.

"That's enough!" Michonne said from the doorway. "You've probably frightened her half to death."

Lucy let go of Andrea's hair and gave her head a light shove and sneered. She sheathed the knife and walked over to Merle. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"Did you know, that Phillip sent me to kill her?" Merle asked Andrea. "If you had of left with her, he would have wanted you dead too. He violated Maggie, and ordered me to beat Glenn so that he could find out where they were staying and kill them all, and he had no intentions of you finding out."

Andrea just sat there, shaking his head.

"It's true," Michonne said.

Merle nodded, "Of course, if I had of killed her, she wouldn't of been able to tell Rick where Glenn and Maggie were so that they could be rescued."

Andrea stared down at her lap.

"If I'm not mistaken, if it weren't for Michonne, you would have died. And you chose a dick before your own friend. What kind of friend does that?"

He turned to Lucy, "Not a very good one."

He shook his head, "Not a very good one, indeed."

"Why are we wasting time with her tied up in here? Why don't we toss her outside and see how long it takes before they converge on her? Or maybe we could drop her off at Woodbury, still tied to the chair, maybe if she's lucky they'll rescue her in time."

"You wouldn't do that?" Andrea said. She looked frantically at Michonne for confirmation. Michonne just stared back. "You wouldn't do that."

Carol appeared in the doorway, "Would you two stop it?" Merle and Lucy stood there silently. "Michonne and I can take it from here."

Lucy followed Merle out of the room; she smiled and winked at Andrea as she walked by.

"They're crazy," Andrea muttered after they were gone.

Carol shook her head, "Don't mind them; they're just trying to scare you."

"Carol, please, you know I'm not a threat to you guys."

Carol pursed her lips.

"You seen what I seen," Michonne said. "You seen the heads, you seen him try to make Merle and Daryl kill each other. You know he wanted me dead."

Andrea just shook her head.

"You can't keep denying it, whether you want to believe it or not, you know what kind of person he is, and you've chosen to stay with him."

"We can all get along."

"No, we can't. It's one or the other. None of us are going to stop until the other side is gone."

* * *

Merle and Lucy walked outside, laughing. "That was fun," Lucy said.

Merle grinned, "You should've been on Broadway."

* * *

Rick returned and told them they were going to war. Debates started, everyone trying to come up with the best strategy and solution.


	13. Chapter 13 - Comfort

_Author's Note: First, I want to take a moment to thank everybody that has sent me messages and reviews. It's these little things that keep me writing. If it weren't for you guys, I probably would've gotten bored and deleted this story by now. Also, and more importantly, I want to let you know that this starts how the last chapter should've ended, but by the time I got to it, I forgot. I was more wrapped up in Lucy and Merle and forgot what I was going to do with Rick. I suppose I should write my ideas down, that way when I'm able to type it up, I'll remember to write it._

Rick walked into the room where Andrea was still tied to a chair. He cut the ropes around her wrist, "Thank God, Rick—"

"Get out!" he interrupted.

"What?"

"Get. Out."

"But…Rick, I—"

"Get the hell out of my sight, because I swear the next time I see you, I will put a bullet into your brain. I promise you that."

"Rick, how can you say that to me? We're friends."

"No, you made your decision a long time ago. Now go, whether it's back to Woodbury, or somewhere else, I don't care. Just get out!"

She took a deep breath, and left the room. She didn't say anything to anybody as she left the prison. Lucy stood leaning against the wall, grinning. Andrea shuddered and opened the door.

"In two days we go to war," Rick said before going back outside to start guard duty.

Everyone talked amongst themselves. Merle and Lucy stood away from the group, talking in hushed whispers. "You know Woodbury well."

It wasn't a question, but Merle nodded his head anyways.

"You would know all the ways in and out, you would know where they stand guard, and things like that?"

He nodded again, "What are you getting at Cherokee?"

"What if we snuck in in the middle of the night, and put him down."

"The Governor?"

She nodded, "You know where he stays, where he sleeps, things like that. We move in quietly, and get it done."

"Then we'd have to worry about retaliation."

She shrugged, "Probably, but it may also scare them off. Maybe they'll leave us alone. Especially since it sounds to me like he's the one encouraging this war."

"Let me think about it," he smiled, then walked away to join the debate being led by Michonne and Hershel.

Lucy walked upstairs. She heard the baby crying and peeked into the cell. She walked over, and looked down at the little girl, "Shh, its okay baby, everything will be alright," she whispered.

She gently rubbed the baby's cheek. She started to calm down, and looked up at the new voice. Lucy smiled, "Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top, when the wind blows, the cradle will rock…"

She started to fuss again.

"Shh, shh, it's okay."

"She's probably hungry," Carol said from behind. Lucy turned around; the woman was holding a baby bottle in her hand. "Would you like to feed her?"

"Uh…"

"Go ahead," she offered the bottle to Lucy. "Just pick her up, careful, you have to support the head." Lucy adjusted her in her arms and then took the bottle. "Hold it up, that way she doesn't suck in any air." Lucy smiled as she started drinking the formula.

"What's her name?"

"Judith. Daryl calls her li'l asskicker."

She grinned, "Of course he does. Hi, Judith." The baby blinked at her, her tiny little hand wrapped around one of Lucy's fingers. She turned her attention back to Carol, "I've never really been around babies before. I was an only child."

"You and Merle didn't have any of your own?"

She shook her head, "Lord no! It would've been a terrible idea to have a child with him." She took a deep breath, "It was for the best anyways. Between all the drugs and alcohol, I couldn't have gotten pregnant if I wanted to."

Carol frowned, her eyebrows knitted together. "I felt the same way with my husband, then Sophia came along, I thought things would get better because of her," she shook her head. "Some people don't change."

Lucy pursed her lips.

"Was it a miscarriage or an abortion?"

"What?"

"I am – or was- a mom, I could tell when Sophia lied, I know you're lying."

Lucy shook her head.

Carol walked over and sat down on the cot, "it's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Lucy sat down next to her, and told her what had happened.

_Lucy sat on the edge of the tub, her head in her hands. Daryl knocked on the door, "Lucy is everything okay?"_

"_I'm fine Daryl," she tried to sound calm, but there was an edge in her voice. _

"_You know you can tell me."_

_She stood and wiped her face before opening the door. She motioned to the counter. Daryl picked up the pregnancy test and looked at it, "Lucy, that's wonderful."_

_She shook her head, "No. No, I can't do it Daryl. I can't."_

_He sat the stick back down and turned to her, "Lucy, its okay."_

_She shook her head again, "No. Daryl, I can't. Not with Merle, I can't."_

_She was becoming frantic, he placed his hands on her shoulders, "It'll be okay, I promise."_

"_I have to leave."_

"_Lucy—"_

"_I'm sorry, Daryl."_

_She hurried to her room. _

_When Merle got home he found Lucy lugging the two suitcases out of their bedroom, "Where are you going?"_

"_I'm leaving." _

"_You can't leave."_

"_Yes, I can, now get out of my way."_

_Merle blocked her path. _

_She forced her way around him, one of the wheels on one of the suitcases caught on the banister. She yanked it and tumbled down the stairs, "Lucy!" Merle shouted, running down the stairs to where she lay unconscious. He picked her head up, and felt something warm and sticky. He looked at his hand; there was blood on his fingertips. "Daryl! Call an ambulance."_

_Lucy winced in pain as she woke up. Her head hurt, and there was a constant beeping. She opened her eyes, and used her hand to shield them from the bright lights. She groaned and looked over at Daryl and Merle. Merle sat in a chair, he was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees. Daryl stood a couple of feet away, his arms crossed, and a nervous look on his face._

"_What happened?" she moaned. _

"_You fell down the stairs," Merle told her._

_She glared at him, "You pushed me."_

"_No," he shook his head. "I swear I didn't, you tripped."_

_Daryl chewed on his bottom lip._

_The door opened and the doctor walked in. "Good, you're awake." He looked over her chart before continuing, "You have a concussion and had to get a few stitches. You and your baby are both okay though."_

"_Baby?" Merle asked, turning to look at Lucy, his eyebrows arching. "You're pregnant?"_

"_Merle…"_

"_You're pregnant, and you weren't going to tell me, you were just going to leave?"_

"_Merle, I'm sorry."_

"_You were going to take my baby, and not tell me!" his voice raised with each word._

"_Merle, I was scared. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."_

"_How could you do that to me? Don't you think I deserve to know that I'm going to be a father?"_

"_Mr. Dixon," the doctor attempted to interrupt, "She needs her rest."_

"_This is between me and her," he said, turning his attention to the man. "You can stay out of it."_

"_As her physician, I suggest you keep your voice down, or I will have you escorted out of here."_

_He looked at Lucy, who sat in the bed crying, then to Daryl, who still looked nervous and uncomfortable. He sneered and left the room._

_A few nights later, Lucy woke up from a pain in her abdomen. She groaned and crawled out of bed, her hand pressed against her. She made her way down the hall, to the bathroom, and flipped on the light. When she looked down she saw the red stains on her shorts. Blood streaked down her legs. She turned back and seen the bloody footprints coming from her bedroom. "Merle!" she shouted, leaning against the doorjamb. "Merle!"_

_Daryl and Merle both woke up due to the shouting. Merle turned on the small lamp and seen the puddle of blood on the sheets. His eyes widened in fear and he jumped out of bed, hurrying to Lucy. Daryl was already there, attempting to calm her down. Tears fell from her eyes, and she kept asking, "Why is there so much blood?" over and over._

"_Go get her some water or something?" he told Daryl, who quickly left. Merle pulled her into his arms, and her body shook as she sobbed._

"_Why is there so much blood?" she asked._

"_Shh, its okay, it's going to be okay." He led her into the bathroom and turned the water on. He put the plug in the tub, and turned back to Lucy as it filled. "Shh," he said, walking back to her. "Let's get you cleaned up." He pulled the straps of her camisole down off of her shoulders, carefully undressing her. "Come on," he led her to the tub and she stepped in. She sat down in the warm water, and pulled her knees to her chest. Her arms wrapped around her legs as she continued to cry, still asking the same question. He gently placed his hand on the side of her head and kissed the top of her head. "I'll be right back," he told her._

"_Get a mop or something and clean this up," he told Daryl when he returned with the water. He walked back to his room and took the sheets off of his bed. When he went back to Lucy, she was still crying, and hadn't moved. He sighed, and knelt down on the floor next to the tub. "It's okay," he told her._

"_Why is there so much blood?" she asked again._

"_It's okay; we're going to call the doctor. Everything will be okay." He picked up her loofa sponge and put some body wash on her. "Let's get you clean," he told her, prying her hands from her legs. They were sticky with blood. "Give me your leg." She extended her leg, and he held her ankle, scrubbing away the blood._

_Once she was clean, he took her hands and pulled her to her feet. She stepped out of the tub and he wrapped a towel around her. He scooped her up into his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder. She was still muttering to herself as he carried her to their bedroom and helped her get dressed. "Come on," he led her out of the room, "We're going to sleep on the couch tonight, we'll replace the mattress in the morning."_

_They went downstairs and she curled up on the fold out bed. Merle laid down next to her. She fell asleep crying as he ran his fingers through her hair._

"I'm so sorry," Carol told Lucy, when she was finished.

She shook her head, "It's okay, really." She took a deep breath, "Maybe it was for the best. This isn't the sort of world you want to raise children in." She looked down at Judith and frowned. The baby was sleeping again.

"It sounds like Merle really cared for you."

She shrugged, "I suppose, he had a funny way of showing it sometimes though."

"When he's sober, he doesn't seem that bad. Sure he's still a little hotheaded, but I think that's from all the testosterone."

Lucy looked at Carol, who was smiling slightly. Lucy smiled back.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Lucy laid Judith back in her crib. "Be good to Daryl," she told Carol. "He's a good man, he has a good heart. He's absolutely clueless when it comes to women, so you'll have to give him a little bit of time."

"You really care about him, don't you?"

Lucy nodded, "He's the brother I never had. When my mom was sick, he was the one that comforted me."

"If you don't mind me asking, what did she die from?"

"Cancer. It was in her bones."

"I'm sorry."

Lucy shrugged, "Don't apologize. Words never truly fix anything. Besides, it's not like you had anything to do with it." She paused for a few seconds, "He's also the one that talked me into leaving Merle the first ten times. Every time…every time Merle would hit me, Daryl played doctor, putting ice on my swollen lips and blackened eyes." She took a deep breath. "He really cares about you, so be gentle with him."


	14. Chapter 14 - Confessions

Merle stood outside the cell, listening to Lucy tell Carol about her miscarriage. He could hear the pain and sadness in her voice. He remembered the night at the hospital, when he had found out.

_Merle sat down on a chair in the waiting room. His elbows rested on his knees and he put his head in his hands. He closed his eyes and sighed. He had never wanted to be a father. He knew how his own was, and he didn't want that. Plus, with his lifestyle, there was no point in bringing an innocent child into it. But if Lucy was going to have a baby, he'd have to change. If it was a boy, his name would be Merle Junior, and he would teach him how to fish, and hunt, and fight. If it was a girl, they'd name her Dharma, after Lucy's mom, and he would teach her how to fish, and hunt, and fight._

_He heard the footsteps and looked up to see his brother, "You knew. You knew she was pregnant, and that she was leaving, and you weren't going to tell me."_

"_Merle, I wanted to, but it was her place to do it."_

"_You're my brother, my flesh and blood. You should have told me."_

"_What good would it have done?"_

_Merle didn't say anything. His lips pressed together and he looked down at his dirty boots. "Do you still have the key to dad's old lockbox?" he finally asked after a few minutes of silence._

"_Yeah."_

"_The ring still in it?" _

_Daryl nodded, "Yeah."_

Merle remembered the night of the miscarriage. The way Lucy crumpled against him, too weak and scared. He had held her through the night, even in her sleep her body shook with sobs.

Merle reached into his pocket, and he pulled out the ring, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. It was simple. I white gold band with little diamonds encrusted around it. It had been his mom's, and his grandma's. And he had intended to give it to Lucy, but he never had a chance. After the miscarriage, no time ever seemed appropriate. If she wasn't crying over the baby, he was drunk or stoned.

He sighed and placed the ring back in his pocket. He had carried it with him every day since the night at the hospital. After he had lost Lucy in Atlanta, he had refused to get rid of it. Even though he had never given it to her, it was the only thing that tied him to their past.

He walked away, deciding not to bother Lucy.

* * *

Lucy sat outside, keeping watch. Night had fallen, and there was a slight chill to the wind. She shivered a little as the wind blew her hair. She heard the door open and close behind her, but didn't turn. She kept her eyes on the prison yard, her bow and arrow in hand, ready to strike if necessary.

"I was looking for you earlier," Merle said, standing beside her.

She pursed her lips for a moment, "I was with Carol. I was…I was feeding the baby." She glanced up at him; his eyes were on the walkers clinging to the fence.

"I've been thinking a lot lately…" he trailed off for a moment.

"Oh yeah?"

He nodded.

"About what?" she pried.

"What you were saying earlier."

"About?"

"The Governor, and sneaking into Woodbury."

"Well, do you want to?"

"It would be risky."

She nodded and looked up at him, "I know."

"We don't have to tell anybody. We can slip out of here tomorrow. Maybe go hunting with Daryl and sneak away."

She smiled, "It would probably be the easiest way."

He nodded.

She turned her attention away from him.

"I've been thinking about other stuff too."

"Like?"

He shrugged, "The past."

She looked away, bringing her attention back to the walkers. They were moaning and gnashing their teeth, wanting on the other side.

"Oh yeah?"

He nodded, "Remember that time you poisoned me?"

She scratched behind her ear and tried to fight off the smile, "You mean when I cooked chicken fettuccine?" She glanced at him, "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I know, but I was thinking about how you took care of me. How you held my head in my lap and sang to me. No woman, not even my momma, took care of me like you did when I was sick."

She didn't say anything.

"The way I treated you though, I think maybe you should've used arsenic rather than under cooked chicken."

She turned away from him, trying to hide her blushing cheeks. "I thought it was done."

He laughed and shook his head. "You would have made a great mom," he almost whispered.

She shook her head.

"I know it was my fault. If I hadn't of acted like I did, you wouldn't have fallen—"

"Merle, stop. It doesn't matter now, it was for the best."

"Not once have we ever talked about it. You'd sit there crying, but you wouldn't say a word. You know, I lost a child too!"

She tilted her head down, trying to hide the tears that were starting to form.

"Dammit! Lucy, I wasn't trying to make you cry." He reached up and rubbed the side of his chin.

She wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "What if we had of…" she trailed off but he knew what she was asking.

"We would have named him Merle Junior, and I would have taught him how to hunt, and fish, and fight."

"Him?" Lucy asked. "And if it had been a girl?"

"Dixons don't have girls."

"Well, Thornton's don't have boys." Because of her lineage, her mother had kept her maiden name, and her mother before her.

Merle laughed. "We would've named her Dharma."

Lucy looked up at him, her eyebrows knitted together. "After my mother?"

He nodded. "And I would have taught her to hunt, and fish, and fight. Hopefully she would've been as pretty as you though."

Lucy turned her attention back to the prison yard, shocked by his confessions.

Merle stuck his hand in his pocket, his hand closed over the ring.

"We would have been terrible parents."

Merle shook his head, "You would have been great," he told her again. "I can't say the same for myself."

Lucy didn't reply.

He watched her jaw tense.

There was silence for a while. When she finally heard the door close, she looked and he was gone. She spotted the little band on the ledge, glinting in the moonlight. She picked it up, rolling it between her fingers. She slid it onto her left ring finger. It was too big. She slid it back off and slipped it in her pocket.

When Michonne relieved her from guard duty, she walked into Merle's cell and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She reached towards him, her hand in a fist. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, before extending his arm. She opened her hand, letting the little ring fall. "It's too big," she told him, her voice barely audible.

"That's because you have child hands."

"I do not! It's not my fault I have skinny fingers."

He just stared at the ring, "I was going to propose after I found out you were pregnant. And then it just never seemed like the right time."

"It was for the best," she said.

"You keep saying that." He closed his fingers over it and looked up at her.

She looked away.

He stood and walked to her. His fingertips lightly grazed her cheek. She closed her eyes and he watched the muscles in her neck as she swallowed. He tucked her hair behind her ear, but his hand didn't fall away.

They stood in silence before she finally started to walk away, "Are we still going to Woodbury tomorrow?" he asked.

She nodded.


	15. Chapter 15 - Stake-Out

_Author's Note: I'm so excited! Last night I got a friend request on Facebook from a guy that I haven't talked to in years. I think it was about five years ago when I last seen him. He sent me a message asking if I had fallen off the face of the earth. He said he tried to find me a few times, but never could._

Lucy and Merle sat in the car, night had fallen, and they were waiting for the opportune chance to strike. Lucy sang along with the CD she had found under the seat, "Shh." Merle told her. "Try to keep it down."

"Can't take my eyes off of you," she continued, ignoring him, "You'd be like heaven to touch, I wanna hold you so much."

Merle shut off the radio. She looked at him and frowned, "You're too loud."

"You used to not complain when I was loud."

"That's because we were never on a stake out before."

She smiled, trying to suppress a chuckle.

"Get your stuff and come on," he got out of the car, carefully shutting the door. She grabbed her bow and arrows and followed through the woods behind him. Merle carefully pried away the metal sheet that had been put up at the end of an alleyway, "This way, be quiet." They slipped inside Woodbury, and stuck to the shadows, slipping behind and between buildings. Merle led the way to the governor's residence. They snuck in through a side door, and Merle led the way to the front of the building. "Stay here and be quiet, keep an eye on things."

"It was my idea, I'm going up there."

"I need you to stand guard. Please, Cherokee, if you're ever going to do something I ask, do this."

She frowned but reluctantly agreed. Merle headed quietly up the stairs.

* * *

Lucy heard muffled voices and carefully peeked out the window, Andrea stood on there with another guy. She watched as he walked away. Andrea was going to come in, Lucy moved to behind the door, and drew a knife. When the door closed behind Andrea, Lucy moved in, cupping her hand over the blonde woman's mouth. She pressed the blade to her throat and whispered, "Don't make a sound, and don't move. You wouldn't want my hand to slip."

She forced Andrea forward and into another room and into a chair. "I'm going to move my hand, and if you make a peep, I'll cut your tongue out," Lucy told her. She secured Andrea's hands to the chair and walked in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" Andrea asked her voice calm and measured.

"I've come to kill the Governor."

Andrea smirked, suppressing a laugh, she was about to reply when Merle walked into the room, "He's not here," Merle said.

"Where is he?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know."

Lucy shoved the chair backwards. Andrea hunched her shoulders, pulling her head forward to keep it from hitting the floor. Lucy knelt over Andrea, the tip of the knife pressed against the blonde's hair line. They heard the door to the building. Blood started to surface where Lucy's knife pressed against the skin, slowly dragging the knife across.

"Phillip!" Andrea screamed.

"You dumb bitch!" Lucy said, punching her in the jaw.

"Come on!" Merle grabbed her forearm, "We don't have time for acts of insanity." He pulled Lucy to her feet and they made a run for it as The Governor came running into the room.

He seen Andrea in the floor and scowled. He drew his gun, chasing after Merle and Lucy. He fired off two shots, missing them both as they ran out the door they had come in. They could hear shouting behind them as they ran down the alley. "Cut them off!" The Governor shouted orders as he chased them down. He fired off another shot.

Lucy and Merle made it back to where they had come in at. They headed for the tree line. Lucy was tackled by a walker who had been drawn to the sounds. Merle shoved his knife through its head, and Lucy shoved it off of her. Merle grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet. "Thanks," she smiled.

Another shot was fired, and her smile left her face as she fell against Merle. He held her, and looked at the Governor who stood smiling. He was about to pull the trigger again. Merle shot first. He missed by just a few inches. Phillip ducked back behind the metal sheet as Merle shot again. He picked Lucy up, throwing her over his shoulder. He ran through the woods, back to the hidden car, and put her in. She was still conscious, but not by much. She was choking, "Hang in there," he told her, "You'll be okay."

By the time he made it back to the prison, she was unconscious.

Daryl came running outside, "What the hell happened?" he asked as Merle ran around to get Lucy out of the car. He picked up her limp body, her head rolled to the side.

"Where's Hershel?" he asked, ignoring his brother's question.

"Inside, what's wrong with her? What happened?" he followed Merle inside. Hershel looked up and seen Lucy lying in Merle's arms.

"She was shot." Merle said. Hershel quickly cleared the table and laid Lucy down, "She's not healing."

Hershel checked her pulse, "She's still alive, but she's barely breathing." He looked at Carl and Beth, "You know where the infirmary is?"

Carl nodded, remembering the first trip he had made there.

"Good. I need gauze and bandages, tape, towels, alcohol, tweezers, and a scalpel if you can find one. Beth, help him." She nodded and the two left the room.

"What the hell happened?" Rick asked.

"We went to Woodbury. We were going to end this before it got started."

"A lot of good it did, she's been shot."

"She'll be okay," Hershel interrupted. "I just need to get the bullet out."

"Could you be any stupider?" Rick ignored Hershel. Merle drew his fist back and punched Rick in the jaw. Rick tackled Merle. When he hit the ground, he rolled, putting Rick on the floor, he started to hit him, but Daryl, Michonne, and Glenn grabbed him, restraining him.

"If you expect me to help her, I'm going to need to concentrate. If you want to fight, take it outside."

Merle stood, sneering. Rick got up too, "If you expect to stay here, you need to curb your temper."

"Fuck you!"

Rick started to hit him, but one look from Hershel made him change his mind. He turned and left the room.

"You better run, pussy!" He jerked his arms free, "Get off me."

Daryl, Michonne, and Glenn left the room too, leaving Merle and Hershel alone. "If you've calmed down, I could use your assistance," Hershel told him.

He turned to the old man, "What do you need?"

"I need to be able to clean the wound properly," he motioned at the shirt Lucy wore.

Merle walked over to her, and picked up the hem of her shirt. Gently, he started cutting away the fabric. He pulled the shirt away from her wound, revealing the hole in her right shoulder blade. Beth and Carl returned with the things Hershel had asked for. He cleaned the wound, and the tweezers and scalpel with the alcohol. He made an incision and Merle watched, nervous. Hershel pulled the bullet out. "She's gonna heal, right?"

Hershel sighed as he began to cover the wound with the gauze, securing it with surgical tape. "I don't know. There wasn't any shrapnel, which is good, but her lung was collapsed." Merle bit his bottom lip, crossing his arms over his chest. Hershel washed his hands then walked over to Merle. "What you did was very stupid, but it was brave. Personally, I think we should've left a long time ago. No place is safe forever."

Merle nodded. Hershel left the room, leaving him alone with Lucy.

* * *

Lucy's woke up in pain, her chest hurt and she couldn't breathe. Her body jerked, and she pushed herself up off of the hard, metal table. She started coughing, blood spattered on the table's cold surface. Merle was immediately at her side as she coughed up more blood. She wiped her mouth with her hand before sitting up completely. "Are you okay?" Merle asked, taking off his button-down shirt and pulling it over her shoulders.

"What do you think?"

Merle got one of the unused towels and dampened it. He handed it to her so she could wipe her mouth clean.

She struggled to take a breath. "What happened?" she asked.

"You were shot."

"Damn! It hurts more than getting bit."

Merle smirked and she glared at him.

"Where is everyone?"

"Bed. We go to war tomorrow."

She frowned.

"Come on," he took her hands and pulled her off the table. He walked with her to her cell.

She pulled her boots off, Merle stood in the doorway watching. She looked up at him, "Thanks."

"For what?"

"Saving me."

He smiled, "It was nothing."

She returned his smile, and walked over to him. She reached up, wincing slightly as the pain shot through her shoulder. She hugged him. She felt his arms wrap around her waist, and he pulled her to him. She pulled away just enough to look up at him, her hands lingered on his shoulders. He cupped her face with his hand, and without even thinking about it, she pressed her lips to his.

His knees bent slightly as he picked her up, her legs wrapped around his waist, and he carried her to the cot, carefully laying her down. She broke the kiss and looked at him, "We might die tomorrow," she said.

The corners of his match twitched slightly. "Then we better make the most of tonight."

She smiled, and pushed his t-shirt up, pulling it over his head. He unfastened her shorts and yanked them off. She squirmed as the cold steel on his forearm slid against her thigh. He took one leg in his hand and moved it to the other side of him. She reached up, taking his face in her hands and kissed him again. He held her against him for a minute, before letting go of her so he could get rid of his own shoes and pants. He smiled as he pushed her back against the bed again. His fingers ran through her hair and she smiled in anticipation, "It's been a long time," she whispered.

He nodded, "I know."

_Author's Note: You didn't think The Governor would be put down that easy, did you?_


	16. Ch 16 - Prelude to War

_Author's Note: I am not mentally or emotionally stable enough to cope with the death of characters I'm in love with. I just…I can't…I need him._

Merle woke up, it was still dark, he hadn't been asleep very long, but something had woken him up. He heard it again, a soft whimpering. That's when Lucy's hand hit him in the face. He sat up, and turned to her. Her face was twisted in fear in her sleep, and she whimpered, fighting off the imaginary demons of her dreams.

Propping himself up on his elbow, he gently caressed her cheek, "Lucy, shh, Lucy, wake up."

Slowly her eyes fluttered open.

"It's okay. It's—"Before he could continue his attempt to soothe her, her arms were around his neck. She was crying into his shoulder.

"Oh, Merle, it was horrible," she sobbed.

He gently patted her back, "Its okay now, you're awake. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"You were…you were one of them. It was so real. I…"

"Shh," he held her against him. "I'm not one of them, see. I'm perfectly fine, and so are you. Calm down."

Her breathing started to slow, and she pulled away from him some. Her face was tear streaked, and her hair was tangled.

"There now," he said, smoothing her hair, "I'm okay, see." He smiled. "Why don't you give me a smile?"

She managed a weak one and as she lay back down next to him, she whispered, "I don't want you going tomorrow."

"Why not?"

"What if…What if something happens? What if you don't come back?"

He pulled her against him, his arms wrapped tight around her waist. His fingers trailed the curves of the muscles in her abdomen. "I'll come back," he assured her.

"But…"

"Every day we risk something happening. Anything could happen to any one of us."

"I don't…I don't want…you to…go," she managed, sniffling.

"I knew you cared about me."

"No. I just…if you're gonna die; it's going to be at my hands, not somebody else's."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Your scalp is mine."

"I know." He kissed the back of her hair, "Go back to sleep now. Everything will be fine."

Lucy closed her eyes, and tried to block out the images from her dream. Merle felt her shudder in his arms.

When morning came, Lucy woke to the sound of someone clearing their throat. She frowned and pressed herself closer to Merle, his arms were still wrapped tight around her. Daryl cleared his throat louder, and she opened one eye, peeking at him. "What?" she growled.

"You need to get up; we're getting ready to go."

"Go. Away."

"Lucy…"

"Go away," she yanked the blanket up over her head.

"You two are the most confusing people in the world. One day you're trying to kill him, then you're friends. Now I find you in bed together. I guess tomorrow you'll be back to killing him again?"

Merle reached out from under the blanket to give his little brother the finger.

"I just want to stay in bed."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Merle muttered into her hair, she smiled.

"Well, you can't."

"Well, maybe if you'd leave, then we'd get dressed."

"Yeah, I don't want you seeing my woman."

"I'm not your woman," Lucy told him.

"Half of the town seen your woman," Daryl muttered.

Merle and Lucy ignored him.

"Just get up and get dressed," Daryl sighed, then walked away.

Lucy and Merle crawled out of bed, and started pulling their clothes on. Lucy still looked like a mess; her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and the tears she had cried the night before. When she started strapping her weapons to herself, Merle asked, "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to go," she told him.

He shook his head, "No, you're staying here."

"No."

"Yes. I want you to be safe."

"I'm the safest one. I have to go."

"No you don't, if you go, I'm going to worry about you."

"And if I stay I'm going to go insane worrying about you." Her voice cracked slightly, and he couldn't help see the fear in her eyes. Fear of losing him.

He took a deep breath.

She continued, "I'm going, Merle, whether you like it or not."

She tied her boots and walked out of the room, he followed behind.


	17. Chapter 17 - War

_Author's Note: So, I wrote the second half of this chapter (and the entire next one) the other night, but I've been struggling with the start of it. I wanted to wait and see how they go about the whole "war" thing, but I don't feel like waiting another week._

Lucy, Merle, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, and Michonne waited hidden in the woods for the Governor to arrive, while Rick sat out in the open. Lucy bounced from foot to foot, "You seem nervous?" Glenn said.

"I'm anxious."

"She's bloodthirsty," Merle said, smirking. He leaned against a tree, his ankles crossed.

"You're damn right, I am. I'm gonna collect me some scalps."

Merle chuckled and winked at her.

She grinned.

They heard the truck before they saw it, and everyone ran off to get into position. Lucy crouched down next to Merle, ready for an attack. They watched as The Governor got out of the truck and walked up to Rick.

"Where is she?" he asked Rick, referring to Michonne.

Rick shook his head, "I'm not giving her to you."

"You would sacrifice all of your people, just to protect her? What has she done for you?"

"More than her worth."

The Governor just shook his head.

Andrea ran up to the two men, "Please, you don't have to do this." She turned to The Governor, "These people are my friends," then she turned to Rick, "and the people in Woodbury are good people too."

Lucy stood up, "What are you doing?" Merle asked, trying to stop her as she came forward. She walked up and hit Andrea with the butt of her gun, knocking the blonde out.

"Why did you do that?" Rick shouted.

"She's annoying."

"Didn't I kill you last night?" the governor asked.

Lucy turned to him, smirking. "You missed."

He cocked his head to the side, "I don't miss."

"Well, there's no bullet hole," her smirk turned to a grin.

The Governor sneered, and turned to walk back to his truck, signaling to his men as he did, "Martinez!" he shouted, "Get Andrea up."

Rick glared at Lucy as they hurried for cover before the gunfire started.

* * *

Lucy stood with her sword in hand, not only were they fighting off the Governor and his people, but walkers had joined the party too. She decapitated another one, and then turned to find Merle with his arm shoved in another one's mouth, her eyes widened, but he just smiled. The walker's mouth only covered a third of the metal plating wrapped around Merle's forearm, and the blade stuck in poked through the back of his skull.

"I'm okay, Sugarplum." He pushed the walker back, and it fell to the ground. He winked at her and she let out a sigh of relief.

As she did, a gun was fired, and Merle's eyes widened. "Merle!" she shouted as he fell to his knees. She ran to him, catching him before his head could hit the ground.

A look of shock was plastered to his face as blood poured from a gaping hole in his side. She pressed her hand to the hole, trying to fight of the tears. Rick and Daryl were at her side in seconds.

"We have to get him to the truck," Rick said as he and Daryl hoisted him to his feet. They practically dragged him away, Lucy walking beside them. "Get him to the prison," Rick told Lucy as she opened the passenger door.

"What about y'all?"

"We'll be fine," he told her. "Hershel needs to tend to this now, before it's too late." He shoved the keys into her hands. "Go, as fast as you can."

She ran around the side of the truck, and got in.

As she was pulling away from the scene, she saw Andrea pinned to a tree, a walker held her from behind, as two more gnawed on her shoulders. The look on her face was a mixture of pain, fear, and pleading. Lucy rolled down the window, took careful aim, and fired the gun. Blood spattered across the ground as Andrea was put down.

Lucy looked over at Merle, she grasped his hand tightly. "Don't you dare die on me," she told him.

He weakly squeezed her hand back and whispered her name.

She came barreling down the drive up to the prison; Beth and Carol were at the gates in seconds opening it for her. Hershel came out on his crutches. She jumped out of the truck, and hurried around to the other side, "What happened?" Carol asked.

Lucy ignored the question as she opened the door, "Help me." With Lucy on one side, and Beth and Carol on the other, they managed to get Merle inside and onto a cot.

"Please," she pleaded with Hershel, "You have to help him."

Hershel sat down next to him, checking his vitals. He tore Merle's shirt away from the wound. It was worse than Lucy had thought it would be. Aside from the gaping hole, there were tiny little ones surrounding it because of the shrapnel. "I have to get it clean first," he told her. "And he's lost a lot of blood; he'll need a transfusion."

"He can have mine."

"Do you know what his blood type is?"

She shook her head.

"You're AB positive. If he's not, the transfusion would be pointless."

"We don't have time to try to find a match. We have to take a chance, if it doesn't work, then when the other get back Daryl can give him blood."

Hershel sighed, "Have Beth take you to the infirmary; get me any painkillers you can find, and anything for a transfusion. Needles, surgical tubes, bags." He felt Merle's forehead, "And fever reducers and cold packs if you can find some." She nodded and left, taking Beth with her to the infirmary.


	18. Ch 18 - C'est la Mort

_Author's Note: The song is "C'est la Mort" by The Civil Wars. I thought about using their song "Poison & Wine" because I thought the lines, "Your hands can heal, your hands can bruise" and "I don't love you, but I always will" perfectly describe the way Lucy feels about Merle. _

Lucy sat with her back against the wall, her legs were stretched across the bed, and Merle's head was in her lap. He was unconscious; the mixture of pain killers and fever reducers Hershel had given him had knocked him out. Hershel had cleaned the wound as best he could, and had attempted to stop the bleeding. With one hand she stroked the side of his head, and the other hand grasped his.

Lucy sang to him, "Swan dive down, eleven stories high, hold your breath until you see the light. You can sink to the bottom of the sea, just don't go without me. Go get lost where no one can be found, drink so long and deep until you drown. Say your goodbyes, but darlin, if you please, don't go without me. C'est la vie, c'est la mort, you and me, forever more. Let's walk down the road that has no end. Steal away where only angels tread. Heaven or hell, or somewhere in between, cross your heart to take me when you leave. Don't go…please, don't go…don't go without me…" Her voice cracked on the last word a tear escaped her eyes.

Hershel appeared in the doorway, "You should come eat something."

Lucy shook her head.

Hershel sighed. "You've given a lot of blood, please, go eat."

She sighed and gently lifted his head, moving out from under him. She carefully laid his head back down, and then left the cell, leaving Merle alone with Hershel. As she walked down the stairs, she looked up at the windows, the sun was going down.

Beth looked up and gave Lucy a careful smile. Lucy attempted to return it as she sat down. Beth handed Lucy a bowl of the stew she had made with the deer Daryl had killed the day before. "Thank you," she whispered.

"He'll be okay," Beth told her.

Lucy just stared.

"I don't know Merle that well, I know he has a temper, but I've seen how he is with you, and I know you two care about each other."

The corner of Lucy's mouth twitched.

"You love him?"

Lucy wasn't quite sure it had been a question. She shrugged slightly, "I don't…" She shook her head, "I don't know. I want to, I feel like I could, but…I'm just…scared to."

Beth tilted her head to the side a little, waiting for Lucy to continue.

"He and Daryl are all I've had for a long time. Daryl…we used to stay up late at night, we would just sit on the couch downstairs and talk until the sun rose." She sighed. "And Merle, sure he has a temper, sober or not, but there were times when things were so…perfect. And then he'd get drunk or high, and everything fell apart, and that was more often than not."

Lucy sat silent for a minute, eating a spoonful of stew.

"It was almost a year before I actually saw the…softer side of him."

"What happened?" Beth asked.

Lucy took a deep breath, "My mom died of cancer. I cried for days, I was a mess. For a couple of days, Merle just left me alone, he didn't say anything, he didn't touch me. There was nothing. Then at her funeral, he put his arm around me, he let me cry on his shoulder. He told me everything would be okay, that she was in a better place now, she didn't hurt anymore. He told me it was all part of God's plan, that He has a plan for everything."

Beth nodded, "He does."

Lucy's eyes narrowed slightly, "It's a cruel, sick and twisted one."

"Without pain and suffering, joy and happiness are commonplace," Hershel said from behind, as he walked up to them. "You have to hurt in order to appreciate the good things in life." He placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. She looked up at him. "No matter what happens to Merle, you're part of the family, you have people that love you."

She pinched her lips into a thin line, and tried to keep the tears at bay. "How is he?" she managed.

Hershel sighed, "The bleeding's slowing down, but he still has a fever. If we don't bring it down…"

Lucy nodded in understanding. She sat the bowl of barely eaten stew down, and stood up to go back to the cell. That's when Carol came back in, "They're back."

The four ran outside to open the gates.

They all climbed out of the car, beaten, bloodied, and bruised. Glenn was limping. Carol ran to Daryl and hugged him, he held her close and Lucy thought he was about to cry.

Carol pulled away and Daryl turned to Lucy, "Is he…?" he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, but Lucy knew what he was asking.

She shook her head, "He's asleep, but he has a fever."

Daryl nodded and they walked back in.

Beth handed them bowls of stew, Daryl turned his down, wanting to see his brother first. Lucy joined him in the doorway. "Will he be okay?" Daryl asked.

She shrugged.

Daryl sighed, and looked at Lucy.

She looked like she was about to fall apart. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. He kissed the top of her head, "Merle's tough, he'll make it."

Lucy nodded. "You should go eat."

He gave her a weak smile before walking away. He sat down next to Carol and started eating the stew. Lucy just stood there, watching the rise and fall of Merle's chest.

After he finished eating, Rick went upstairs to check on Merle, "Hershel told me he's feverish."

Lucy didn't react.

Rick sighed, "We're about to go to bed."

Lucy still didn't acknowledge Rick.

Rick ran a hand through his hair, "We should cuff him, just to be safe."

Lucy shook her head.

"If he turns while we're asleep—"

"I'll know."

"Lucy…"

"I'll know."

"You can't keep watch over him all night, you—"

"You're not cuffing him," her voice was hard. She turned to him, a stern look on his face.

"If something happens, and he turns—"

"He won't."

"You can't be sure."

"You are not cuffing him." Her words were careful and measured. Rick turned and walked away.

Lucy carefully climbed over Merle and lay down next to him. She lay on her side and pulled his arm around her, holding his hand against her shoulder. Her other hand rested on his neck, her fingers feeling his pulse beneath the skin. His skin was hot, and there was a thin layer of sweat forming. "Don't you die on me," she whispered.

She kissed his cheek, and then laid her head down. She closed her eyes, and sang, "Don't go…please, don't go…don't go without me."

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes, and seen Merle with his head turned towards her. His eyes were open, she smiled. "Good morning," she whispered.

He let out a low snarl before pushing her onto her back. He rolled on top of her, and bit down into her shoulder. She screamed. She did her best to push him off of her, but he was bigger and stronger than her. She felt the skin rip from her neck. Her blood dripped from his lips, and her flesh dangled from his mouth. "Merle," she tried to fight off the tears as she desperately searched for anything to use as a weapon.


	19. Chapter 19 - Things (Guess I'm Rick Now)

_Author's Note: So, Merle's a zombie, and Lucy doesn't have anything to kill him with. Looks like he's going to eat her…_

Lucy struggled to get Merle off of her. He leaned in to take another bite. She punched him, which knocked him backwards for just a few seconds. She managed to move partially out from under him. She struggled to find something, anything, to use as a weapon. He grabbed a handful of her hair, and yanked her head up. She struggled to roll him off of her so that she was on top. She straddled him and leaned forward to grab the blade on the floor. He snapped at her, and she pushed him back, keeping his head far enough away that he couldn't take another bite.

She grabbed the blade, and straightened up again. With both hands she brought the knife down on his head.

Lucy sat up, her eyes wide. She was covered in sweat and was panting. She pushed her hair out of her face, and tried to calm herself down. She turned to look at Merle, lying there. She touched her neck, both hands searching the skin for blood, teeth marks, anything. Her skin was untouched. She pressed her hand to Merle's forehead. He was warm, and a thin layer of sweat covered his skin. She laid her hand on his chest and put her fingers on his neck. She felt his pulse and his heartbeat, slow but steady. She felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. It had all been a dream. Another horrible nightmare. "Oh, Merle," she whispered. "Please don't leave me."

She sat up again, looking at his face. His eyelids fluttered a little, and he muttered something inarticulate.

"Merle," she whispered.

He barely opened his eyes. A faint smile crossed his lips, "You're not worried about me, are you Cherokee?"

She smiled, "Never."

She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. He gently patted her head. "You're hurting me."

She pulled away, "What?"

"Your arm was putting pressure on the wounds."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like Mickey Rourke's face."

She laughed.

"Can I have some more of those painkillers?"

Hershel appeared in the doorway, "Good morning, I'm not interrupting, am I?"

Lucy shook her head, and he hobbled into the room.

He sat down next to the bed, "I need to check the bandages," he said as he pulled down the blanket, revealing Merle's bare chest and stomach.

The bandages were soaked with blood, and there was a small pool of it forming on the mattress. Hershel peeled the bandages away. The smaller wholes had already scabbed over, it was the big one that was the problem, "How bad is it, doc?" Merle asked.

Hershel sighed and shook his head, "With the proper medical tools, you'd survive. But if we can't get your fever down…" Once again, there was no need for Hershel to finish. All three nodded solemnly. "Besides," he continued, "You're losing blood fast."

"Give him another transfusion," Lucy suggested.

Hershel thought for a moment before nodding, "I'd like to try to staunch the bleeding. It would be easier if I had something to cauterize the hole with."

Lucy carefully crawled over Merle, "I'll go see what I can find." She looked at Merle, "And I'll bring you something to eat."

Merle gave her a weak smile. He looked so pale from the blood loss.

"So how about some more of those painkillers?" Merle asked Hershel.

Hershel chuckled, "I'd like to keep you awake, but if it gets unbearable, I'll give you a couple more. For now, you can have a couple more of these." He opened the bottle of fever reducers and shook two into the palm of his hand. He gave them to Merle, who swallowed them dry.

Lucy came back with a small pot that was frequently used to cook with, "I'm not sure if it's hot enough," she said, handing it to Hershel.

"It'll have to do," he said, taking it from her. He pressed it to the wound, and Merle gritted his teeth. Lucy wrinkled her nose at the smell of burning flesh and blood. Hershel sat down the pot, then poured alcohol over the fresh scars on Merle's body to keep infection away before replacing the bandages.

"Where's my breakfast?" Merle asked.

"It's being cooked," she told him.

Hershel got up and left the room to get the things for the transfusion. Lucy sat down on the edge of the bed. Merle reached over, the back of his hand brushed across her arm. "You were worried about me," he teased.

She rolled her eyes.

"Just admit it," he continued.

"I wasn't worried," she denied. "I was concerned…for Daryl."

"Oh, really?"

She nodded, "Of course, you're his family, could you imagine how he'd feel if he lost you."

Merle smirked, "I think you're just looking for an excuse."

She raised her eyebrows.

"You know, yesterday, I was in and out of it because of those pills, and I thought I heard you cry."

She shook her head vigorously, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"But darlin if you please," he mimicked, "don't go without me."

"You were dreaming."

He smirked, "Of course I was. You'd have no reason to sit here with my head in your lap, singing."

She narrowed her eyes at him; a faint smile barely touched her lips.

He grinned, "That's okay Sugarplum."

"Breakfast is ready," Daryl said from the doorway.

Lucy nodded, "I'll be right back," she told Merle, then left the two Dixons alone.

_Author's Note: Come on, you didn't really think I would kill Merle, did you? I would kill Daryl before I kill Merle. And I'll never kill Daryl. Maybe..._


	20. Chapter 20 - Stuff

_Author's Note: I'm going to rent out my womb to a rich gay couple so I can buy things._

Lucy held her breath as the water washed over her face, rinsing the soap from her hair and body. She needed a shower, she need to wash away the sweat, dirt, and grime of the previous day. She ran her hands through her hair, making sure all the suds had been washed away before turning the cold water off.

She got dressed and wrapped her hair up in the towel before returning to the cell block. Returning to Merle; when she had left him, Daryl was with him, and he was sitting up slightly. She smiled when she walked into the room. "How are you feeling?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him and towel drying her hair.

"Hot."

She pressed her hand to her forehead, "You don't feel as warm anymore."

He smiled faintly.

As she began brushing her hair, she asked, "Where's Daryl?"

"Hunting."

"Again?"

Merle shrugged slightly, "We're out of food. It only lasts so long with so many of us here."

Lucy frowned.

"Now that the war's over, you'll be leaving again, won't you? You told Daryl that once it was over with, you weren't going to stay."

Her lips parted slightly as she thought, it had actually been a few days since she last thought about leaving. "It's something I've felt like I need to do."

Merle nodded.

"I don't really…I don't really want to be alone again. I had hoped you'd come with me."

The corner of Merle's mouth twitched.

She sighed and looked away, "I know you don't want to leave your brother. You're in no condition to travel anyways."

"I think I know what kind of condition I'm in," he said, his tone becoming harsh.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she stood, "You've been shot, you've lost a lot of blood, and you're sick. I know you're tough, but sometimes you have to admit when you're defeated, whether you want to or not."

Merle tried to sit all the way up, but fell back as pain shot through his abdomen from the strain.

"This is what I'm talking about," she told him, helping him get comfortable again. "You have a hole in you. You can't do things like this."

Merle frowned.

Lucy's face softened.

He swatted her hand away, "I don't need your sympathy."

She stood and sighed, "Fine then." She turned and walked out of the cell, trying not to let his words bother her. She had known this would happen. She spent days convincing herself that she wouldn't allow it. Yet, here she was, once again, hurt and on the verge of crying because of Merle.

"Are you okay?" Carol asked as Lucy walked by.

She ignored the woman and walked outside, "I'll take over, if you want," she told Rick.

"I've got it."

She shook her head, "We've had a rough couple of days, why don't you go in and spend some time with Carl and Judith."

Rick looked at her, a curious glint in his eye, "You don't want to stay by Merle's side?"

She didn't answer.

He seen the way her jaw tensed. He nodded, "I understand."

He handed her the binoculars, then patted her on the shoulder, a sympathetic gesture.

She closed her eyes and blinked away the tears. She would not let Merle make her feel like this again.

* * *

The first few days Daryl was gone, nobody was too worried. It wasn't the first time he had been gone for days, or even weeks, hunting. He'd find the trail of an animal, and not come back until he had shot it.

After a week though, people did start to worry, simply because of the walkers. Daryl was alert enough that two or three didn't stand a chance. But if he was cornered, or overwhelmed, then…

Lucy stood outside in a guard tower that morning; she held the binoculars up to her eyes, scanning the perimeter. That's when she saw it, lying in the dirt right at the prison entrance. Daryl's crossbow.

She ran down as quickly as she could, and picked it up. She checked around it, there were no footprints, no signs of a struggle, just tire tracks. She hurried back inside. Lucy threw the crossbow down on the table, and everyone looked at her, "Is he dead?"

Nobody answered, unsure who Lucy was talking about.

"The Governor…is he dead?"

Rick looked at the group, then back to Lucy.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"We…we didn't find him among the dead. I think he might have escaped."

"Well, now he has Daryl, and you're going to go with me to get him back."

* * *

Daryl sat tied to the chair. How had he been so stupid? How could he have not known he was being followed? He listened to the Governor whistling, his footsteps echoed through the empty room. His image was blurred through the dirty window panes that separated the room he was in from the room Daryl was in.

The Governor walked through the doorway, and leaned against the wall, "Don't take this," he gestured, "the wrong way. You're not the one I want."

Daryl glared at him, "Then who is it that you want?"

"Merle."

"He's dead," Daryl lied. "One of your men shot him."

The Governor just stared, considering Daryl's words. "I also want that pretty brunette friend of yours, the one with the feathers."

"You'll leave Lucy out of this."

"Lucy," he drew her name out. "Not a name I would have expected a girl to have."

"I wouldn't have expected a guy like you to be named Phillip."

He glared at Daryl, sneering, "I am going to kill you," he told him. "Just not yet."

"When?"

"After I get Lucy. I'm going to make you watch as I tear her apart. I want you to see every tear, hear every scream. I want you to feel her pain. Then, I'll sew her back up and deliver her back to the prison."

"You are one sick bastard. What makes you think you're even going to get her?"

"She'll come for you."

"Yeah, and so will everyone else, you'll be outnumbered. You're not going to get away with this."

The Governor just smiled and turned, walking back through the other room, whistling.

_Author's Note: I have an "If there's no body, there's no death," philosophy, and I never said they killed The Governor._


	21. Chapter 21 - Caught

_Author's Note: I read four issues last night of The Walking Dead. Martinez really disappointed me. So, it's time he redeem himself._

Lucy walked back to her cell, which she seemed to now be sharing with Merle. They hadn't spoken much to each other since he had upset her. He was sitting up in bed, reading a book. She ignored his presence, and began strapping her knives to her forearms. "What are you doing?" Merle asked.

"Daryl's missing. Rick and I are going to find him."

He put the book down and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, "I'm coming too."

"No," she shook her head.

"What do you mean no?"

"You still need to rest."

"I'm fine!"

Lucy shook her head, "You're still injured; you need your rest." Over the last few days he had been moving around some, but too much strain would cause him pain.

"You're not going to keep me from going."

"Hershel!" Lucy called for the old man, hoping he could talk some sense into Merle.

Hershel came hobbling into the room on his crutches, "What is it Lucy?" he looked at her, then Merle.

"Tell him he can't go, he has to stay here."

Hershel nodded, "I agree with her. You're moving around, which is good, but if something were to happen out there…if you put too much strain on it…" Hershel shook his head.

Merle sat frowning, defeated. Hershel sighed, and left the room. Lucy continued with her weaponry. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Merle didn't say anything.

She turned and looked at him. They just stared at each other. She stepped forward, and he looked down. She cupped his face in her hands and tilted his head back, "You can be mad if you want, but it won't do you any good." She sighed, "I'll bring him back, I promise."

Merle's turned his head, pulling away from her touch.

She gritted her teeth and turned, walking out of the cell.

"Stay safe," he said as she walked through the doorway, his voice was low enough that he was certain she hadn't heard him and that if she did, she didn't know what he had said.

"Are you ready?" she asked Rick.

He nodded. He said a goodbye to Carl and they went outside. Michonne handled the gates as they drove through.

"Where do you think he is?" Rick asked, as they drove.

"Woodbury, obviously." She stared at the road; her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly making her knuckles turn white. "Where else would the Governor take him?"

"You really think that's what happened?" he glanced at her.

"What other explanation is there?"

* * *

They started to pull up to the gates, "What are you doing?" Rick asked, he had thought they'd be sneaking in, like before.

"What does it look like?"

Martinez stood at look out, and aimed the gun at the car.

She turned off the engine and stepped out, her hands by her head to show she wasn't there for trouble, "We don't want a fight," she said.

"The people here have gone through enough. What do you want?"

"I want to talk to the Governor."

Martinez shook his head, "He's not here."

She raised an eyebrow, "Really? One of our men has been kidnapped, and I'm supposed to believe that?"

Martinez shrugged, "Believe what you want, but nobody has seen the Governor since…"

She nodded, understanding.

"We thought y'all had killed him."

She shook her head, "He wasn't among them."

Martinez nodded as well. He looked around, "Come here."

She cautiously walked forward so that she was closer to the gates. He knelt down, "There's a warehouse a few miles away from here," he whispered. "You may want to check it out."

"Thanks."

Martinez shrugged, "Don't mention it. You know, we have good people here. People who don't want this fighting, we just want a place to call home. A place where we can be safe, you know?"

Lucy nodded, "That's all we want." She turned and walked back to the car.

She opened the door and was about to get in when he shouted, "Hey!"

She looked up at him, "Yeah?"

"Be careful."

She smiled, "You too."

* * *

She could see the warehouse a few blocks away, looming above the overgrown grass. Lucy pulled over, "What are you doing?" Rick asked.

"If he's in there with Daryl, I don't want him to know we're here. I don't want him hearing us. I'd like to have the element of surprise."

Rick nodded in understanding, and they got out of the car.

They walked the rest of the way to the warehouse and found the truck sitting there. "Maybe Martinez isn't so bad after all," she whispered.

Rick shrugged, not sure how he felt about the man. They carefully pushed the door open and slipped inside, careful not to draw any attention to themselves. They made their way through, "Maybe we should split up," Rick whispered.

Lucy nodded, and headed upstairs. She drew an arrow from her quiver and knocked it to the bow, just in case. She carefully pushed a door open, peeking inside, empty.

Downstairs, Rick wasn't having the same luck. He opened a door, and a walker looked at him. It started for him, and Rick lunged forward with his axe, bringing it down on the walker's head. It fell with a thud Rick hoped no one could hear.

Lucy headed back downstairs; she didn't have any luck upstairs. When she caught up to him, "Rick," she whispered. He turned, "Any luck?"

He shook his head.

They made their way around some crates, and seen another walker. Lucy took aim, and let go, the arrow flew through and hit the walker between his eyes. It fell back, dead; unfortunately, it also knocked down boxes as it did. Lucy and Rick both winced at the noise.

* * *

Daryl looked up, "Damn biters," the Governor said, grabbing a shovel. "They're always getting in here."

Daryl watched as he left the room.

The Governor watched the two. Lucy opened a door and stepped inside. He smiled; he was going to get exactly what he wanted. He slipped up quietly behind Rick, and hit him on the back of the head with the shovel, knocking him unconscious.

Lucy turned, and jumped back, surprised to see him standing there, the shovel propped against his shoulder, instead of Rick. Before she could react, he punched her, knocking her out.

* * *

Lucy moaned, her head hurt. She opened her eyes and blinked. She was bound to the chair, her wrists were tied down, and her ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. She looked up to see Daryl across from her, bound in the same manner. "Daryl!" she shouted.

She heard the Governor's whistling. "Good, you're awake," he said, entering the room with a smile on his face.


	22. Chapter 22 - Savior

_Author's Note: A serious one this time: I'd like to thank Shutxthexfrontxdoor, Lilone1776, iamnot, astainintime, and anonymous for all of the reviews they've given me over the course of this story so far. I honestly have no idea where I'm going with it, but it's nice to know that y'all are with on the journey._

The Governor took Lucy's chin in his hand and turned her head from left to right, looking at her. "I'm going to have some fun with you," he smiled.

"Leave her alone!" Daryl shouted.

The Governor let go of Lucy and turned to Daryl. "I think I'm really going to enjoy this," he said.

"You're a sick fuck!"

The Governor smirked, "Let's see…she's not a sister, she doesn't look anything like you. You definitely care about her though, a girlfriend maybe?"

Daryl just glared.

The Governor's smirk turned into a grin, "Is she your wife?"

Daryl still didn't reply.

"Merle's," she said. "Well, was. We dated for six years."

The Governor turned back to her, "Well, I'll enjoy this even more."

Daryl fought his binds, trying to break free. The Governor walked back to her, "Such a pretty thing, not the type of girl I would have expected him to be with."

She shrugged, and when he got close enough, she spit in his face.

He slapped her, hard. Her head turned from the force and Daryl shouted a string of obscenities.

Lucy just laughed, "Thank you sir, may I have another?"

The Governor just stared, temporarily stunned by her reaction.

"What? You really thought that would hurt me? I've suffered many broken bones at Merle's hands. Hell, you saw what he did to Glenn; imagine what he's capable of doing to someone my size." She grinned, "I didn't even _feel_ that slap."

"Lucy, stop," Daryl begged her to quit egging him on. Daryl knew what had happened to Maggie and Glenn, and he didn't want to have to watch it happen to Lucy.

The Governor picked up a knife. "Maybe you'll feel this." She felt the tip of the knife against her cheek, and the Governor dragged it down, leaving a gash behind.

Once again, Lucy smiled as it quickly healed.

"What the hell?" He didn't realize he had said it out loud.

She laughed.

"Well, maybe you'll feel this."

Daryl watched as he tortured her. He screamed and begged for it to end, but his words fell on deaf ears.

Lucy tried to be strong, she tried not to show any pain, but after a while, it became impossible. Her healing slowed down, and the pain took over. Tears rolled down her face, along with blood. She was beaten, bruised, burned, and cut. The Governor picked up the knife again, "If I were to cut off a finger, I wonder if it would grow back."

"Stop!" Daryl shouted more. "Stop, leave her alone!"

The Governor ignored him, turning back to Lucy.

"Stop!" It was a new voice. Lucy, Daryl, and the Governor all turned to look in the doorway. Rick stood there, a gun pointed at the Governor's head. "I suggest you let them go, or I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head."

The Governor smiled, "Calm down, there's no need for threats."

Rick glanced from Daryl to Lucy, scoffed, and turned his attention back to the Governor. "Let them go, now."

"Alright, alright," he turned to Lucy, the knife was still in his hand, he jammed it into her shoulder, and Rick fired. The bullet just barely grazed the Governor's ear.

Lucy screamed out in pain, and Rick rushed to her side. He kept the gun directed at the Governor, who stood back a few feet, clutching the side of his head. One-handed, Rick untied Lucy. He handed her the gun and went to untie Daryl. She gritted her teeth and pulled the knife out. She glared at the Governor, debating whether or not to go ahead and put him out of his miserable existence.

When Daryl was free he brought Lucy her things. She handed him the gun, and strapped everything in place. She turned to leave the room, then stopped and turned back around, "Lucy, what are you doing?" Rick asked.

She slowly walked towards the Governor. "When someone threatens you, they torture, they want to put an end to your life, and you know it, you eliminate them before they have the chance to do it to you." She drew her sword.

He put his hands out, palms facing her as he backed against a wall. He shook his head, "You don't want to do this."

She nodded, "Oh, yes, I do." She swung the blade.

The Governor's mouth fell open, and he blinked twice. Blood seeped through his neck as his head slid forward, falling to the floor. His body slumped over, leaving a trail of blood along the wall. Lucy impaled the head with her sword, and lifted it up, looking at it.

Daryl walked up behind her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

She lowered the sword back down, and stepped on the head as she pulled the sword free. She sheathed it, and they left. Rick drove back to the prison. Lucy and Daryl sat in the backseat, Lucy slept with her head on his shoulder.


	23. Chapter 23 - Distant

_Author__'s Note: I was thinking this up while watching Looney Tunes and I fell asleep. I've been having these terrible nightmares. (Is it a nightmare if it happens during the day?) Michael Rooker has been starring in them._

Lucy walked into her cell, Merle's eyes widened at the sight of her. She ignored his presence as she stripped down. She peeled the bloodied, ruined shirt off and undone her shorts, letting them fall to the floor. "What happened to you?" Merle asked

She just looked at him, a blank, distant look in her eye. He stood up and took her hand. He pulled her over to the cot, and had her sit down. He knelt down in front of her, and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I'll be right back."

He hurried downstairs where everyone else was, except for Daryl and Carol, who were talking in his cell. He looked at their faces; they each wore a look of concern. Finally his eyes landed on who he was looking for, "Beth, will you help me?"

She gave a funny look, glancing at Maggie and Hershel, then nodded and stood. Merle hurried into the other room. He grabbed a large bowl from the cabinet and handed it to Beth, "Will you fill this with water, and get some towels?"

She nodded, and he started gathering bandages, tucking them into the crook of his arm.

Merle led Beth back to Lucy's cell. When Beth seen Lucy sitting there half-naked, her eyes widened. She sat the bowl down on the table along with the towels, "Do you need anything else?" she asked, turning to Merle.

"Please, there's not much I'll be able to do one-handed."

She nodded. Merle dipped a towel in the water, and started cleaning around Lucy's wounds. She just sat there, unresponsive. He wiped blood from her face, then her neck and shoulders, working his way down. As he washed the blood away, Beth wrapped the wounds. There were dark, circular patches of burned skin on her arms and legs, and in some spots, it looked as if her skin had actually been peeled away. "Oh, Lucy," Beth whispered as she wrapped a bandage around Lucy's forearm, "What did he do to you?"

Lucy just looked at the young blonde girl.

They finished tending to Lucy's wounds and Beth left her and Merle alone. Merle cupped Lucy's face in his hand, forcing her to look at him. He realized then just what kind of damage had been done to her. It wasn't just physical abuse she'd taken, but emotional, psychological, abuse as well. And not just from the Governor. Over the course of their relationship, he had hurt her in so many ways. It was no wonder she treated him like she did now. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

The night and the following day passed, and Lucy didn't say a word to anyone. Merle walked into the cell with a plate of food for her. She laid there asleep. He sat the food down on the table next to the cot, leaned over and kissed her forehead, then left.

He walked outside; Daryl had just started his shift on night watch. Merle took out one of the cigarettes Lucy had found, and stuck it between his lips. He lit it and took a long drag before walking over to his little brother and sitting down next to him. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" It was more of a demand then a request.

Daryl sighed, "What do you want to know? How even though she screamed in pain, not once did she ask him to stop? How she showed absolutely no emotion as she killed him? How I was forced to sit there and watch her be tortured, unable to do anything but beg for it to end?" Daryl fought back the emotion, choking down the anger and desperation he felt.

Merle didn't say anything; he just looked down at the ground.

"She tried so hard to endure it. At first it was like a game, he would cut her open, dragging the knife deeper and further to see how long it would take her to heal each time. She'd laugh; act like it didn't even bother her. So it got worse. All the different things he did…all the different things he used…" Daryl shook his head. "All I could do was watch."

He looked at his wrists; they were still red and sore from where he had fought so hard to get out of the binds.

"It was like a game, or an experiment. He was so sick and twisted. Eventually her healing slowed down, that's why she looks like that. She lost so much blood, her body working overtime to…" he trailed off again, torturing himself with the memories.

"Where was Rick?" Merle asked.

"Unconscious. I guess Philip hadn't hit him as hard as he thought."

Merle was silent.

"If it weren't for him though, I don't think either of us would have made it out of there alive."

Merle took another drag off of the cigarette. "It's my fault," he said.

Daryl looked at him.

Merle just shook his head.

Daryl was surprised by Merle's behavior. He had only ever seen his brother like this on a couple of other occasions. Merle seemed so helpless now. There was nothing he could do.

Merle put his hand on Daryl's shoulder, squeezing it, "I'm sorry, Daryl. I should've been there for you more…growing up and…" he shook his head. "It should've been me, not you."

He got up and walked back inside, returning to Lucy's cell. She was awake now; she leaned against the wall, the plate of food on her lap. She picked at it. "How are you feeling?"

She glanced at him before turning her attention back to the food.

Merle walked into the room and sat down next to her. He took a deep breath, she looked better than she did yesterday. But he knew that she had some wounds that were never going to heal. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "It's my fault. If I had of never taken Maggie and Glenn…" He looked away, then back. He sighed. "I'd rather have no idea where you are, or how you are then see you like this, then to have had that happen to you."

She looked at him again, tears forming in her eyes. She handed him the plate, and he sat it down.

He shook his head, "I should have been better to you. You deserve better than me. I should have treated you better. I should have shown you how much I care about you."

Tears rolled down her face and he pulled her into his arms, "I'll never let this happen to you again," he whispered. He pulled the ring out of his pocket. There was a strip of cloth wrapped around the band to make it fit tighter. He slid it onto her finger. "I'm not asking you to marry me," he told her as she looked at it. "I just…Whenever I start being a dick, whenever I piss you off and make you cry, I want you to be able to look at that, and know that regardless of what I say and do, I love you."

She wrapped her arms around him, crying onto his shoulder, "That's all I ever wanted to hear you say."


	24. Chapter 24 - Suicidal Birds

Lucy lay on the cot, Merle's arms wrapped around her. He wiped tears from her cheek, "You're still upset?" he asked. Neither of them had spoken since his confession, they just laid there, in silence.

"No." She shook her head.

"You're crying."

"I didn't even notice."

Merle kissed her cheek, "I'm worried about you."

She turned and looked at him, "You are?"

"Yeah," he propped himself up on his elbow. "You've gone through so much. Not just…not just what I did to you, but…everything else." He didn't want to think about what The Governor had done to her, she nor Daryl had told him the exact details, but from the little bits of information he had managed to get out of them, and the wounds covering her body, it wasn't hard to imagine.

"I'm tired, Merle, can I please go to sleep?"

He sighed and laid his head back down, he pulled her closer, her body pressed against him. They laid there for a few seconds before he asked, "When are you going to leave again?"

She shrugged slightly, "I don't know. I'm exhausted, physically and mentally."

He reached up and stroked her hair; she cuddled closer to him, shrinking against him.

Merle didn't sleep that night, he just held her. His fingers ran through her hair, down her arm, over her cheek. He really was worried about her. He had noticed changes, and not just the muscles or the fact that she stood up to him. He thought she might truly be insane now. She was merciless when it came to Andrea, and then the way Daryl had described her killing The Governor… A year on her own in this world had taken quite a toll on her.

* * *

A few days passed, Lucy seemed to be better, but Merle could see it in her eyes. Something had snapped in her after what had happened. She had been tortured, she should have been dead, yet there she stood.

She walked out of the cell, and down the stairs. Her hair was frizzy and tangled, and her complexion was starting to look a little washed out. Her eyes were red and puffy from the lack of sleep; she had been tortured all night with nightmares. In her dreams, she relived the horrors she had endured.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Merle joked with a smile.

She glared at him and hissed, then sat between Daryl and Hershel. She groaned, "I would kill for some chocolate."

"You and me both," Michonne commented.

"How could something so pretty be so bloodthirsty?"

Merle was ignored, as Rick said, "Glenn and I are about to run into town for some more supplies. You're welcome to join us, but I can't make any promises about chocolate. Or that if we do find some, it will still be good."

A small smile touched the corner of her lips, "Stale chocolate is better than no chocolate."

* * *

They let Lucy drive on the way back to the prison. "You just ran over a bird," Glenn commented.

"Yeah…"

"You ran over a bird."

"It should've moved."

"How do you even hit a bird? Don't they fly away when things get close to it?"

Lucy shrugged, "Maybe it was suicidal."

"Really?" Glenn asked, "A suicidal bird?"

She shrugged again, "I don't know how animals think."

Rick tried to stifle a laugh as they drove through the first set of gates. They were all rocked slightly as the car bounced; Lucy had run over a walker.

"Maybe you shouldn't drive anymore," Glenn said, gripping the door, anxious to get out of the car.

"It's one less to worry about."

They drove through the last set of gates, and Lucy turned the engine off. "Are you okay?" Rick asked as they got out.

"I'm fine."

"You just seem…different since…what happened?"

"You mean since I was tortured?"

She watched Rick's expression change. He looked uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, trust me." She held up her bag of things she had gathered, "I'm going to be fine."

They walked inside the prison.

"What's in the bag," Daryl asked as she sat it on the table.

She dumped it out to reveal bags of candy, year old magazines, and tons of nail polish, she looked across the room. "I thought we could use a girl's night, I'll kick Merle out of my cell tonight, and we can pretend like living in a prison with walking corpses outside is normal, and that the world hasn't gone to hell."

"You can count me in," Beth said, with a smile, "It'll be just like old times."

Lucy smiled at her enthusiasm.

"I can't remember the last time I did something like this," Carol agreed.

"If I'm kicked out of the cell, then where am I supposed to go?" Merle asked, putting his arm around Lucy's shoulders.

She shrugged, "Bunk with Daryl."


	25. Chapter 25 - Girls Night

"I'm so excited," Beth said as she helped push another cot into Lucy's cell. "We can just sit and gossip about boys."

"What boys?" Michonne asked, suppressing a smirk.

"Um…well, we can gossip about our love lives from before all this."

"What love life did you have?" Maggie asked, walking into the room.

Beth frowned, a slight blush tinting her cheeks, and Maggie laughed.

Carol and Lucy walked in and plopped down on a cot. They had pushed more into the room, so they would all be more comfortable. There was now barely any floor space in the cell. Lucy dumped her bag out on the beds, and they began their girl's night.

* * *

Maggie was polishing Beth's toenails, while Carol read an old issue of Cosmo. Michonne was doing her own nails, and Lucy lay on her stomach, flipping through the pages of an issue of Glamour while they talked.

"Is what Merle said true?" Beth asked.

Lucy looked up at her, an eyebrow raised.

"About you being a stripper…before all of this."

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed, "Not the best job I ever had, but it paid well." She turned the page, "It's actually how I met him."

"Oh."

"A bouncer?" Carol asked.

Lucy shook her head, "Client."

Carol stared, an eyebrow raised.

"Don't look at me like that, I only ever gave him one lap dance, and I didn't even finish it. I told him I don't date clients, so he quit coming to me. Somehow we ended up together for about six years, then this happened and we were separated for this past year."

"Somehow I just don't see that man in a monogamous relationship," Michonne commented.

Lucy sighed, "There were occasions when he had one-night stands."

"But you stayed with him?" Maggie asked.

Lucy shrugged, "It was off and on. Usually after a…um…particularly awful fight. Daryl would usually talk me into it, but I'd come back weeks later, only to resume the same pattern."

"What's he like?" Beth asked.

Lucy tilted her head to the side, not sure where the young girl was going with her questions.

"You know, in bed…"

"Beth!" Maggie shouted.

"What? I'm curious."

Lucy laughed, a smile spreading across her lips. "It varies, sometimes he's…" she shook her head, looking for the right word, "perfect, and other times…well, he can be a little…aggressive."

Carol raised an eyebrow at her again.

"Don't look at me like that," Lucy said again.

"Perfect?"

"You know what I mean." She sighed, "Attentive…I guess." She shook her head again. "What about you?" she asked, turning the tables on Carol, "How are things with Daryl?"

"Um…" she swallowed. "We haven't…"

"What?" Lucy and Maggie shouted at the same time.

Carol shrugged, "After everything that happened with Sophia, I just didn't want anyone around me. Since then, we just…we haven't really had a lot of time alone. Between me helping with the baby, and everything that had been going on with The Governor."

"Please, I do not want to hear about that man ever again," Michonne said.

"Same here," Lucy agreed.

Carol smiled, "Anyways, we just…we haven't." She paused, thinking. "I've hinted at it, made little remarks and innuendos, and he just…" she shook her head. Wanting the attention off of her again, she said, "You want to tell us about that ring that mysteriously showed up on your finger."

Lucy nervously looked down at her hand; she ran her finger over the band. She shook her head, "It's nothing…it just…it never fit before." She turned her hand over to show the little strip of cloth that was wrapped around it.

"Wait a minute! Don't tell me Merle got married, I just can't see that man ever—"Michonne was cut off by Lucy laughing.

"No, no. He's never…" She shook her head, "We've never even talked about it. It's not even a possibility anyways."

* * *

They all fell asleep on the beds with candy wrappers, bottles of nail polish, and magazines scattered among them. In the morning they were woken up by the sound of Merle, "Holy shit!"

Lucy sat up, looking around, "What?" she asked, still in a sleepy haze.

"You still sleep with your eyes open."

She sat there rubbing her eyes while the other girls woke up too.

"It's so creepy."

"It's not like I can control it," she got off the bed and walked over to him.

"It's so creepy though," he said, stepping back away from her.

She scoffed and shook her head, "Merle Dixon, you are unbelievable."

He just grinned, smugly.

She rolled her eyes, "Where's our breakfast."

"I don't cook," he frowned.

She reached up and patted his cheek, "Of course you don't."

Michonne smiled as she walked past him, and he just frowned.

"Did you enjoy your girl's night?"

Lucy nodded.

* * *

Lucy stood in front of the mirror that night, staring at her body. She had just showered, and had yet to get dressed. The burns on her arms and legs were still there, red and blistered, and there were patches of new, pink skin, outlined by faint scars on her body as well. There was a knock on the door, "You've been in there awhile, is everything okay?" came Merle's muffled voice through the door.

"I'm fine."

He opened the door and walked in, she didn't make an attempt to cover herself, what would have been the point? He walked up behind her. She looked at his face in the mirror, she looked so sad. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He reached up and placed his hand on her shoulder; she trembled under his touch, and closed her eyes. She nodded.

He pulled her hair back and swept it over the other shoulder to expose the back of her neck. He kissed her neck, "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" he whispered against her skin.

She shook her head.

He kissed her again, his arm slid around her waist, his hand against her stomach. She relaxed, falling against him, melting in his arms as he kissed down her neck and over her shoulder. Her hand covered his.

"Let me show you."

She turned around to face him, there was a faint smile on his lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

* * *

_Author's Note: I feel like this entire chapter is pointless and unnecessary, but who cares. It has more Merle/Lucy sexy time, which you can all think Shutxthexfrontxdoor for, because if she had of never brought up Messy Merle Kisses, I never would've thought it up._


	26. Chapter 26 - Goodnight, Merle

_Author's Note: I'm so broken. Absolutely devastated, I just can't…I feel so numb now. I just want him back so much. I miss my Merle. I just…I don't know what to do._

Lucy opened her eyes, and propped herself up on her elbow. "Where are you going?" she asked. Merle had stood up.

"Nowhere," he whispered. He stroked her hair, smoothing it, and tucking it behind her ear. "Go back to sleep, Cherokee." He kissed her temple and she laid her head back down.

He stood there staring at her for a couple of minutes. She closed her eyes, sighing. Merle shoved his feet into his boots. Lucy listened to his footsteps across the floor, and then she heard the door open and shut.

Merle walked outside, Daryl and Hershel sat out there, armed with a gun and a crossbow, keeping watch. They both turned and looked at him. "What's wrong?" Daryl asked his forehead creasing.

"Nothing," he shook his head. He walked over to them. "Well, actually…" He lifted up his shirt, Daryl took a step back, nervously, not knowing what to expect. The marks from where he'd been shot were almost completely healed, his skin was pink and there was still some scarring, but you couldn't even tell what happened.

"How?" Daryl didn't understand.

Merle shrugged, "It's been healing rapidly."

"Lucy's blood; the transfusion; her blood has the cure in it," Hershel stated.

"Yeah, I figured something like that, since I'm pretty sure after a week or so, it still shouldn't have looked like this." He sighed. "She wants to find another lab, a facility, anything, anywhere there's a person that could use the information to make a cure."

Daryl nodded, "She told me she was going to leave when the war with Woodbury was over. I assume you're the only thing that's kept her from leaving."

Merle shrugged again.

"We should tell Rick," Hershel said. "If there's a chance that all of this could end…if we could go back to our old lives…" he sighed and looked up at the stars.

Daryl and Merle looked out at the prison yard, the corpses walking around. It was so wrong, so unnatural.

Merle finally turned back to Hershel, "I'm going with her. Whether Rick or the rest of y'all want to go too, I don't care. But I'm not going to let her do this alone." He sighed and looked down at the ground, "I've let her do too much on her own, she's fought hard for the last year, and I can't let her be alone again."

Daryl walked over to his brother and put his arm around his shoulders. He was proud that Merle was finally taking some responsibility, finally realizing how easily he could lose her. Merle shrugged away, frowning. "I'll go too," Daryl said, ignoring what had just happened.

Merle looked at Daryl, the corner of his lips twitched, but he fought the smile. He looked at Hershel, who nodded.

"I'm going back to bed. She woke up when I was coming out here. She's probably still awake."

He turned and walked back inside. He returned to Lucy's cell, and lay down next to her. She rolled over, he could see the moonlight shine in her eyes. A small smile played at her lips.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked.

"Nothing," she whispered, slipping her arm around his waist. He felt her fingers under his shirt and smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't go getting any ideas, now. You don't want to start something you can't finish."

She stifled a laugh, and lifted her head up, giving him a quick kiss. She curled up against him, and he felt her leg brush his. He wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her closer. She closed her eyes, and pressed her forehead against his chest.

"Goodnight, Merle," she whispered.

"Goodnight, sugarplum."

_Author's Note: Short, I know. But I'm tired, and my head hurts. I've taken at least half a bottle of painkillers, and it's just not going away. It's one in the morning, and I need sleep. Bonne nuit !_


	27. Chapter 27 - Debate

Morning came, and Merle, Daryl, Hershel, and Rick stood outside talking. "I don't know about this," Rick reached up and scratched the back of his head. "It's safe here; I don't think it's a good idea to leave."

"You see how well I healed because of a transfusion. Imagine if we could find someone who can remake what she was given."

Rick shook his head, "It just seems too risky. The CDC was incinerated, there's no guarantee other facilities haven't been as well."

"There's no proof either way. It's not like she was at the CDC when they experimented on her."

Rick sighed, but stayed silent, considering the argument.

"She's going to leave regardless of what you say," Hershel stated. "The three of us have already decided to go with her; I'm going to talk to my girls about it tonight. If Maggie goes too, you know Glenn will follow. That just leaves you, your kids, Carol, and Michonne."

Merle smirked, "And we know Carol's going to follow Daryl." Daryl scowled; Merle stifled a chuckle at his brother's annoyance, and continued. "Who the hell knows what Michonne will do? The question is what you will do, especially with Woodbury so close."

Rick shook his head, "That threat was eliminated, thanks to Lucy."

Merle shrugged, "Maybe."

Rick tilted his head to the side, staring Merle down. "You think it's not?"

He shrugged again.

"I'm not sure I'd trust Martinez," Daryl said.

Rick looked up at him, "If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have even known where to find you."

"And how do you think he knew where to send you? You think it was just a coincidence? You think he didn't know where I was? It was just a lucky guess?"

Hershel reached out, placing a calming hand on Daryl's forearm.

Daryl looked at him, and yanked his arm away, then turned his glare back on Rick.

Rick sighed.

"Even if Martinez isn't a threat, there's always going to be someone else. There's always going to be another group wanting what we have."

"He has a point," Hershel said, "Remember what happened at the bar."

Rick remembered all too well.

Hershel continued, "Even if it's not another group, it could be walkers. We were certain my farm was safe, but" he held his hands up, "We're not there anymore."

Rick sighed and looked out over the prison yard, the walkers roaming around. It had been all too easy to knock down the two outer gates, letting so many in. On top of that, there were still so many in the other cell blocks, and it was too dangerous to try to eliminate them all. What if another group came and knocked down the third gate? Then what would he do? They would all be trapped. He thought about Carl, and about Judith. Rick sighed again, "Alright. Merle, you find out when she's going to leave, we'll talk to the others. If she's going, I'm going too."

When Merle walked back into the cell, he found Lucy with the stolen laptop open on the cot. He leaned against the wall, listening to the rapid clicking of keys, her eyes quickly scanning the screen, document after document. Correspondences with other scientists, at other locations; data, so much data; her head was starting to hurt.

"Find anything interesting?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"You know where you're going yet?"

The corner of her mouth twitched, "Only if you're going too."

"I am."

She looked up at him, trying to figure out if he was serious or not.

"So is Daryl, and Hershel, and Rick, the others probably will too."

"You've…you've talked to them?"

He nodded. "I told Daryl and Hershel last night, and we told Rick this morning."

"It won't be easy."

"Are you trying to talk me out of it?"

She shook her head, "No, I just want them to know that. I'm not expecting to find anything. I'm not looking for a happily ever after. I'm just hoping…"

"I know. We all know."

He walked forward and sat down on the edge of the bed. She closed the laptop, and set it aside.

"So where are we going?"

"To a place just outside of Savannah."

_Author's Note: I know it's short. It's been short a lot lately, it'll start to pick back up again though, I promise._


	28. Chapter 28 - Born Bad

_Author's Note: The song Lucy is singing is by Juliette Lewis, it's called "Born Bad". I love Woody Harrelson. _

Everyone sat gathered around. Rick had just announced the plans to leave the prison; Michonne had gladly agreed to leave. Glenn, on the other hand, wasn't as thrilled. "You expect us to just blindly follow Mickey and Mallory?"

Merle glared at Glenn, not getting the reference.

Glenn sighed, "Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis. Natural Born Killers."

Lucy smiled and began to sing, "Don't wanna be born bad, most fun I never had…"

She was ignored, and Glenn continued. "After everything you did, I can't believe you were welcomed back."

"After everything _I _did?" Merle scoffed. "I was left on a roof in Atlanta to die!"

"You tied me to a chair, you beat the shit out of me, threw a walker at me," he paused. "You took Maggie to a man who terrorized her."

"Glenn…"

Maggie's voice fell on deaf ears as Glenn continued, "You may call it even, but I don't. It's nowhere near even."

Merle stood, "Are you forgetting what happened to her?" he pointed at Lucy, "She was tortured. It wasn't just an emotional thing. My brother was tied to a chair and forced to watch everything that man did to her. I have to live with knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it."

Lucy kept singing, ignoring what Merle was saying, "I'm naturally born to be, as bad as a girl can be…"

The yelling continued until finally punches were thrown.

Daryl and Rick jumped up to separate the two, but Lucy was faster. She abruptly quit singing and jumped between them, taking a hit in the process. She reached up, holding her jaw. "Lucy…" Merle started.

She ignored him, opening and closing her mouth, wincing when it made that popping sound.

She looked at Glenn, "It doesn't matter whether or not you're even. It's not a contest. No one cares who's had the worst experience in the zombie apocalypse." She turned to Merle, "And you…" She placed her hands on his shoulders, "You've changed so much in the last year. You're a better person than you used to be, even if you don't realize it. You just need to learn to control your temper."

Maggie stood and walked over to Glenn, taking his hands, "I love you," she told him. "I don't care about what happened, we can't change that, no matter how much we want to." She sighed, "I want to be able to have a life with you, and not worry about things like this, not have to run, and hide, and fight. I want to be able to have a family with you, but I'm not willing to bring kids into this world. If there's even the slightest chance that we could have that one day, I'm willing to follow them anywhere they think they need to go."

Glenn sighed and looked down at the floor. Maggie took another step closer to him, and cupped his face in her hand, she kissed his cheek.

Merle looked at Lucy, and she raised her eyebrows, "I'm sorry," he whispered, so only she could hear.

She smiled and stepped closer to him, slipping her arms around his waist. He held her.

* * *

Daryl stopped in the doorway, and leaned against the wall. "Knock, knock," he said, his voice low.

Carol looked up at him, and gave him a weak smile.

He walked in, and sat down on the bed. "You didn't say earlier whether or not you were going to go too."

She sighed, and looked at the floor, "I don't know. I don't want to be alone again, but I'm so sick of running."

Daryl didn't say anything.

"I don't really have anything left…I just…"

Daryl's hand slid across the bed, the side of his hand touched the side of hers and she looked at him, he was looking at the floor. "You have us," he whispered.

She ran her bottom lip through her teeth, "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

Daryl looked at her, tilting his head to the side. Her eyes locked with his as his hand covered hers. She leaned forward just a little. His lips brushed across hers, just for a moment, and then he stood and left the room. She just sat there, feeling too many things at once.


	29. Chapter 29 - Winning

_Author's Note: I've officially gone insane. I don't know if it's the painkillers, or what, but I need some help. The other night when I went to bed, I thought up the part where Lucy gets hit in the jaw stepping between Merle and Glenn, then I woke up yesterday morning with my jaw hurting. Coincidence? Or crazy? Then last night when I went to bed, I thought up this chapter, woke up at four in the morning (I think) and I could've sworn someone was standing in my doorway. Dreaming? Hallucinating? Crazy? I need help. Also, I'm pretty sure I have ghosts in my apartment._

Merle quietly stepped into the cell, and leaned against the wall to push his boots off. He had just finished his shift on night watch, and he didn't want to wake Lucy up. He slid out of his shirt, and then took off his tank top. In the last year, he had become quite skilled at doing things one-handed. He unfastened his pants, and let them fall to the floor so he was left only in his boxers.

He quietly walked over to the cot and looked down at Lucy's sleeping form. Asleep, you couldn't tell how crazy she had become. She seemed so peaceful. The moonlight shone through the cell, illuminating her face, casting a pale glow over her. Her dark hair fanned out, and looked like a dark blue pool of silk cushioning her head. Her small hands were clasped together over her chest. How had he never noticed how perfect she was before now?

He smiled.

"Are you going to get into bed, or are you going to just stand there staring at me all night?" A small smile played across her lips.

Merle laughed, "Of course you're awake."

"All that grunting when you were pulling your shirt off woke me up."

"I tried to be quiet."

"Trying and doing are two different things." She opened her eyes; there was an almost playful look in them.

He raised an eyebrow, glaring at her.

She laughed, and reached up to pat his cheek. "I'm just messing with you."

He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him. She squealed as he rolled over onto his back. She was now lying on top of him. She smiled and crossed her arms over his chest, resting her head on them, and looking at him, still wearing a smile. "How's your jaw?" he asked.

She shrugged slightly, "I don't feel it."

His thumb gently rubbed the spot where earlier that day she'd had a bruise, "It was my fault, wasn't it? I hit you…again."

Her lips parted in response, but the words didn't come out.

Merle sighed, frowning. He had hurt her again.

"It was an accident," she told him. "I know you didn't mean to." She lifted her head up and ran her fingers through his hair.

He caught her hand in his. "Don't make up excuses for me anymore. You were right; I have to learn to control my temper. Next time I might hurt you worse."

She didn't say anything. He kissed her fingertips.

"I don't want to hurt you again," his voice was almost a whisper.

"Let's just get some sleep, okay." She kissed his cheek. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

* * *

When morning came, Lucy woke up to an empty cot. She got dressed and walked outside. Rick, Daryl, and Carol were loading the vehicles with as much as they could; the crib for Judith, boxes of supplies left in the infirmary, and all of the personal effects the group had still managed to hang on to. Beth was sitting with Hershel and Carl, holding Judith. Michonne, Maggie, and Glenn were getting ready to distract the walkers so everyone could get away. Merle was doing pushups, one-handed.

She walked over to him, and stopped in front of him with her hand on her hip. "What?" he asked, looking up at her.

"That's pretty impressive."

"I gotta stay in shape, don't I?"

She smiled and nodded, "I don't want to be with somebody I can beat up."

He glared at her and she laughed. "You can't beat me up anyways; I'm a better fighter than you."

"That's not what our last spar said; I do believe I beat you."

He stood, "You didn't. I'm old; I get tired faster than you."

"Well, I just have to be able to last, don't I? And you're not _that_ old either."

He got up and looked at her, she smirked. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. He wrapped his other arm around her waist to hold her against him, and then pulled her own arm around her neck so that she could choke herself, if he chose for her to. "And if I just cause you to pass out, then what?"

Her only response was a frown.

"I win."

She slipped down, and tripped him. She grabbed his wrist, and pushed him to the ground. She sat on his back, with his arm pinned behind her. She leaned down close, and whispered, "I win."

He rolled over and she fell onto her back. She was stronger and faster, but he was also bigger. He yanked his arm free, and pinned her down underneath him, "Get a room!" Daryl shouted.

Merle smiled, and stood. He reached down, offering her his hand, which she took. He pulled her to her feet, and wrapped his arm around her, "I wasn't too rough with you, was I?"

Lucy shook her head.


	30. Chapter 30 - Die and Die and Die Again

_Author's Note: Does anyone else like to picture Merle and Lucy posed like on the cover for "Army of Darkness" or is that just me?_

"Keep your elbows in and your chin down," Merle told Lucy. She stood in her fighting stance, waiting for him to take his place in front of her so they could spar. "You're going to end up punching yourself."

Lucy frowned.

"Do it."

She threw punch after punch. Jab, cross, jab, jab, uppercut. Combination after combination. The sun had already gone down on them, and they were camping in the woods, away from the road. The light from the fire glowed against her skin. She finally stopped, out of breath, "I'm exhausted." She wiped sweat from her forehead. Merle had been training her for at least half an hour. She wanted to be able to fight, and fight well, and had coerced him into sparring with her again. The others sat around the fire, watching her.

"This is done anyways," Carol said, pulling the pan out of the fire. Lucy and Merle sat down, ready to eat. Maggie and Beth helped pass out the small portions.

After dinner, Lucy curled up against Merle; he placed his arm around her. She cracked open the book she'd taken from a little store they had stopped at for extra supplies earlier that day. A few pages into it, she marked her spot and closed it. "I want to be loved like Hades loved Persephone," she sighed.

Carol looked at her, a smile playing across her lips.

"You know he basically kidnapped her right?" Maggie asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I'm not talking about that part. I mean that I want someone to love me so much that it hurts when I'm not around."

"And yet it hurt her when she was with him," Carol added.

Lucy frowned.

Daryl smirked, waiting for her and Merle to have a great realization, but if they did, they didn't show any signs of it.

Lucy and Merle agreed to take first watch, while the others slept. "I was thinking about what you said earlier."

She turned to him, tilting her head to the side, her eyebrows raised slightly, "About what?"

He smirked; she was pretending to be clueless. "Hades and Persephone."

She raised her eyebrows more, curious as to what he was thinking exactly.

"You know I never meant to hurt you."

"Merle, please, I don't want to have this conversation again. I've forgiven you for the past. This is our chance to start over, and have a new life together. A new you, a new me. We're not who we were a year ago."

"I know," he looked down at the ground. She took his hand and pulled him to her.

"Are you trying to tell me you're my Hades?"

He grinned, "I might be."

She frowned, her voice becoming harsh, "Don't tell me Merle Dixon's becoming soft."

He scowled, "I'm not soft!"

She laughed and placed her hand on his cheek, "Of course you're not."

His arms slid around her waist, "My sweet Cherokee Rose." His lips pressed against hers. She smiled against his lips, and his hand slid up her back to tangle in her hair, the feathers slipping between his fingers.

When she pulled away, she glanced over everyone's sleeping forms, "We should probably check the perimeter again."

She stepped away from him, and began walking, making sure there weren't any walkers to close to the camp. Merle caught up to her, and took her hand in his. She looked at him, curious.

"What has gotten into you? My Merle never acted like this before."

"Your Merle?" he questioned. "Nobody owns me."

She could barely stifle the laughter, "That's more like the Merle I know."

Without warning, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Hey!" she shouted. She kicked her feet and hit his back, but he didn't seem bothered by it. "Put me down! Put me down!"

"I don't think I will," he said, squeezing her butt.

"I'm gonna scalp you!"

He finally did put her down, and she lunged at him, he laughed and ran. It wasn't hard for her to catch up to him, and she tackled him. She sat triumphantly on his back, and grabbed a handful of his hair, lifting his head up.

"I win."

He rolled over so she was underneath him, "What about now?"

"Get off me, you big oaf! You're crushing me. I can't breathe." She gasped dramatically and he laughed before standing up.

He got too his feet, then pulled her up.

"We're supposed to be making sure nobody dies, not goofing off," he admonished her.

"You started it!"

"Did I?"

"Yes!"

He laughed at her, "You're so cute when you're angry."

She frowned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Come on," he took her hand, and they continued their perimeter check.

* * *

They were eventually relieved by Rick and Daryl. Lucy curled up against Merle. "How will we know when we've found this place?" Merle whispered as she tried to fall asleep.

She sighed, "I don't know. I haven't thought about that."

Neither of them said anything.

"We still have a few days before we get there anyways. I'll figure something out by then."

He ran his fingers through her hair.

"Tell me you love me?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Until I die and die and die again."

She lifted her head up, his face was barely illuminated in the firelight, "So you have seen Natural Born Killers?"

"A couple of times, I just forgot what their names were in it."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." There was a pause. "We're not really as crazy as them, are we?"

"Not yet."

_Author's Note: I know this one's all cutesy, those of you that don't like it, will just have to get over it. I think when Merle's alone with Lucy, he's allowed to be cutesy._


	31. Chapter 31 - Scars

_Author's Note: I was writing a chapter of 'Welcome to Woodbury' this morning, and I kept writing Lucy instead of Mira. I'll have to just refer to Mira as 'her' or 'she' until I'm done with this story._

* * *

_Lucy stood on the edge of the dock. "Get in," Merle told her._

_She shook her head, "That water's freezing."_

_"Pussy."_

_She scoffed. She felt his hands on her waist, "Don't you dare push me in, Merle Dixon!" she shouted._

_"I won't." Her shoulders relaxed some, and he kissed her cheek. "I'm gonna go get another beer."_

_"Okay."_

_She felt his hands slide away, and sighed. Seconds later, his arms were around her waist, and her feet were off the wooden planks as he jumped, diving into the water. She screamed and broke free of his grip. Her feet pushed against the bottom of the lake, and she shot upwards to the surface. She took big gasping breaths and coughed up water as he resurfaced, grinning._

_"You're such a jerk!" she shouted, slapping the water, splashing him in the face._

_He grabbed her wrists, and pulled her to him. Lucy's legs wrapped around his waist, "I had to get you in here somehow."_

_She frowned._

_"Don't do that, it's not very becoming."_

_Her frown deepened._

_"Lighten up, and have some fun."_

_She pulled away from him, "I'm going back inside._

* * *

Lucy took a deep breath. She'd been dreaming. She remembered that particular day too well. It was just a couple of weeks after her mom's funeral. Daryl had suggested camping as a way to get her away from everything and relax for a few days. She was pressed as close to Merle as she possible could be in the small tent. Her fingers danced across his chest, then down his arm, tracing the muscles as they went.

"Can't sleep either?" he asked his voice low.

"How did you know I was awake?"

"You don't move in your sleep unless you're having a nightmare. And those weren't the movements of somebody having a nightmare."

She smiled, "I just woke up."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"When we went camping."

He grinned, "You were so mad that day."

"It was your fault I was mad. If you hadn't thrown me in the water-"

"I didn't throw you; I jumped in and took you with me."

"It was mean."

He didn't reply. He just lay there, enjoying the feel of her fingers on his skin. Her fingers touched the metal prosthetic on his arm, and her thumb brushed across it.

"Can I see it?"

"What?"

"Can I see the…"

He sat up, and grabbed the flashlight, handing it to her. She sat up as well and turned it on, watching him work the straps. He pulled off the prosthetic and the sleeve that went over the stump. She shined the flashlight and stared at the skin; it was pink and looked blistered from scar tissue.

Her fingers gingerly brushed across the skin. Until that moment, she hadn't actually believed he had lost his hand. He just had a neat little metal thing on his fist. Now it was real to her. She took a deep breath and turned the flashlight off. Merle felt her fingers fall away, and he started covering the stump up. He was certain she was disgusted by it, and he couldn't blame her, he was too.

She watched his shadows in the darkness as he refastened the straps. He lay back down, and she curled back up against him. His arm slipped around her, his hand on her waist. "I'm sorry that happened to you," she whispered.

"Don't be. I deserved for it to happen." He felt her hand on his chest again.

"No you didn't."

"Of course I did, if it wasn't because of everything I did to you, then it was because of something I did to someone else."

"You're not that Merle anymore."

"You keep saying that. Do you actually believe it?"

"I'm trying to make you believe it. You're a better person now. If you weren't, you wouldn't be here, because you never would've followed Daryl and me to the prison."


	32. Chapter 32 - Newcomers

_Author's Note: I have a huge, huge, huge, huge favor to ask of someone capable of using Photoshop (or a similar program). If you would be willing to make a cover for this story, please let me know in the reviews or send me a message._

Morning came and they began packing everything up so they could leave. Nobody said much. Lucy stopped; she straightened, listening to the sounds, "What is it?" Merle asked.

"Somebody's walking this way."

Everyone turned and looked at her, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Can you tell-"Rick started, but stopped when she shook her head. Daryl picked up the crossbow, and everyone readied themselves for an attack, either from the living or the dead.

Lucy drew her sword and started walking towards the sound of voices. Eventually they appeared, Milton, Martinez, Tyreese, Sasha, and another girl. Lucy's eyes widened "Marissa!"

"Lucy! Oh my God, I figured you were dead by now!"

Lucy sheathed her sword as she ran to hug the girl. Everyone else stayed tense, not knowing whether or not they should be trusted. "What happened?" she asked, looking from Marissa to the three men behind her.

"We were overrun."

Lucy was still a little shocked to see her old friend and co-worker standing in front of her. "You were in Woodbury all this time?"

Marissa nodded. "If it weren't for Martinez, I'd still be in there, but…" she trailed off and Lucy nodded in understanding.

"So there's nothing left there?" Rick asked.

Martinez shook his head.

"How did it happen?" Merle asked.

Milton shrugged, "There was a breach. We're not exactly sure how it happened, but…" he sighed. "We barely escaped."

"Where are y'all headed?" Tyreese asked his forehead creasing.

Rick thought for a moment, considering how much of a threat they were. Tyreese and Sasha had never done them any harm, and Milton was more of a scientist and a historian than anything else. Lucy seemed to know and trust the skinny, brunette. The only real question was whether or not Martinez could be trusted. When The Governor had kidnapped Daryl, they probably wouldn't have found him if it weren't for Martinez, but it still seemed weird to Rick that Martinez had known where they were.

He sent a questioning glance towards Merle, who only grinned, knowing what Rick was trying to figure out. Rick scowled; he should've known Merle wouldn't be helpful, even though he knew Martinez better than anyone else in the group.

"Savannah," Rick finally answered. "Or close to it, anyways."

"What's in Savannah?" Martinez asked.

Rick looked at Lucy and she gave a very slight shake of her head.

Rick sighed, "I have some friends there."

"Mind if we tag along? We don't really have anywhere to go, and we don't have much in the means of protection?" Tyreese asked, expecting to be turned away like he had when he first arrived at the prison.

Lucy took Marissa's hand in hers, wordlessly saying that wherever she went, Marissa went.

"I don't know about this," Daryl whispered in Rick's ear.

Rick turned to face him, "What are we supposed to do?" He sighed, "I think Martinez is the only that might give us a problem, but if it wasn't for him…"

"Yeah, I know." Daryl sighed. He looked over at his brother, Merle was still grinning, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the truck. "Merle!" He jerked his head slightly, calling him over.

Merle straightened and walked over to him. "So, you want my opinion, do ya?"

"You know Martinez better than any of us, can he be trusted?"

Merle thought for a moment, he looked over at Lucy and Marissa. He knew she wasn't going to be okay with turning Marissa away. How had he never realized that was the same skinny bartender from the strip club? He frowned, "Probably. With the Governor dead, and nowhere to go, he has no reason to turn against us." Merle paused for a moment, "I'd keep an eye on him though."

Rick nodded and turned back around. "You're welcome to come with us," he said, and then he looked directly at Martinez, an unspoken threat in his eyes.


	33. Chapter 33 - Motel

_Author's Note: Guys, guys, my delusions have become reality. Merle was on Conan._

Lucy drove the car, Merle sat next to her, and Martinez, Milton, and Marissa sat in the backseat. "You look incredible," Marissa told Lucy, still in awe about the changes that had occurred.

Lucy smiled and glanced at Marissa's reflection in the rear view mirror. "Yeah, it's funny what being off drugs can do to you."

"What happened?" Marissa asked. "I had seen Merle a few times in Woodbury, but I never saw you, so I thought…"

"We were separated in Atlanta."

"That place was nuked," Marissa said.

"That's when we were separated, trying to get out."

"Didn't you lose your hand there?" Martinez asked Merle.

"It was awhile after that," Merle told him.

"And you guys found each other again," Marissa continued, as if the exchange between the two men had never happened. "That's so romantic."

Lucy frowned, even though their relationship had changed drastically, she would never call their situation romantic. "How'd that happen?"

"She found me and Daryl fighting in the woods."

"You were by yourself?" Marissa asked.

Lucy nodded.

"Wow! I'd probably be dead if I had to try to survive on my own."

Lucy smirked for a moment, thinking if only Marissa knew exactly how Lucy had managed to live on her own after the epidemic.

There was silence. It was about an hour or so before Martinez asked, "So, did you guys ever find whoever was missing?"

Lucy realized she had never told him who the Governor had kidnapped. She nodded, "Yeah, and I killed Phillip too."

That silenced everyone again. Marissa had never known for Lucy to be violent, but she guessed after living on her own in this world, something would've had to change for Lucy to be able to survive. Marissa was grateful for having been taken into Woodbury at the beginning.

* * *

Their day was filled with stopping and going, every few miles there would be cars blocking the road, or there would be too many walkers and they would have to turn around and find another way through.

* * *

That evening, they found a roadside motel to stay in. Everyone was relieved to not have to sleep outdoors again. They split into groups to search the rooms.

Merle pulled Hershel aside while the searches went on, "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

Merle looked around to see if anyone else was close enough to hear. His eyes lingered on Lucy who was smiling as she walked out of one of the rooms. He pulled his thoughts back together before saying, "I've been thinking, maybe-"

"Hey, Hershel," he was cut off by Glenn. Hershel turned around and Merle frowned, not happy to be interrupted. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize-"

"No," Merle shook his head. "Don't worry about it, wasn't anything important."

He stepped past him. "I want to ask Maggie…" that was all Merle heard as he went to check another room.

* * *

When night fell Merle stretched his arms above his head, yawning. It would be nice to sleep in a real bed again. Even the couch bed he had slept on the night Lucy found him had been more comfortable than the cots at the prison. But he really hadn't expected anything more anyways. He sat down and kicked his shoes off.

Lucy walked out of the bathroom, and smiled at him.

"Come here," he said.

She tilted her head to the side, "Why should I do that?"

He reached his hand out to her and she walked over to him. He took her hand in his and pulled her to him. His arms wrapped around her waist as he lay back on the mattress, pulling her with him. There was a grin on his face, and she couldn't help but smile. She felt his hand slip under her tank top, "Merle, I'm exhausted," she told him. There had been a total of six walkers in the motel, and everyone was feeling a little drained.

He rolled onto his side, so that she was lying on the mattress too, but his arms stayed around her. "I guess we should get some sleep, huh?"

She nodded, "We don't have to keep watch tonight, but we still have another long drive ahead of us tomorrow."

Merle made a sound that was half moan and half mumbled word she couldn't make out.

She pulled herself from his arms so she could lay with her head on a pillow. He undone his pants, and took them off; it would make sleeping more comfortable. He laid back down next to her, and pulled her close to him.

"Goodnight," he whispered before kissing the back of her neck.

"Goodnight," she whispered back.

He stroked her hair until he fell asleep.


	34. Chapter 34 - Bitten

_Author's Note: I'm surprised no one said they wondered what Merle had wanted to talk to Hershel about._ _ Also, I've started rewriting a Boondock Saints fic I wrote a couple of years ago on mibba, go check it out!_

Despite how tired she was, Lucy couldn't sleep. Where exactly was she going? What exactly was she looking for? She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of all the negative thoughts. She rolled over in Merle's arms, he was asleep. She whispered his name, but he didn't respond.

"Merle," she said it just a little bit louder, giving him a slight shake as well.

His eyelids fluttered for a moment, "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep."

A smirk started to spread across his lips, and she felt his leg move between her thighs his hand slid up her back under her shirt, "How can I help?"

She rolled her eyes, "Stop it."

"Then what did you wake me up for?"

She sighed, "I don't, I just…I keep thinking what if we don't find this place, or…"

Merle sighed too, "Aren't you the one that said you don't expect to find anything, you just hope."

She pinched her lips together. He was right. She nodded her head slightly. His hand brushed her cheek, and he pushed her hair behind her ear.

"It'll be okay. If there's nothing here, we'll keep looking."

She gave him a small smile.

"Get some sleep, Cherokee." He kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes.

When morning came, Merle tried to wake her up. She groaned and rolled over.

"You know, the Joker never gave Batman five more minutes."

"DC sucks."

"I forgot, you like that pussy Spider-Man, well, the Green Goblin never gave him five more minutes either."

She groaned again, and turned to face him. She opened her eyes. He stood there, dressed.

"Come on."

She reluctantly crawled out from under the warm blankets and started getting dressed. Merle stood there smiling, watching her.

* * *

The rest of the drive to Savannah didn't seem as long. They found a house to stay in, and everyone went inside to check for walkers before they began unpacking. Lucy and Marissa both walked into a bedroom upstairs. So far, they hadn't found anything. There was a bathroom attached to the bedroom, and Lucy walked over, carefully opening the door.

As she checked the bathroom, Marissa opened the closet door. She didn't even see the little girl crouched down in the corner. Before Marissa had a chance to react, the girl had lunged at Marissa, knocking her backwards.

Marissa shrieked and Lucy ran to her side, sword drawn. She swung the blade, taking off the child's head. It bounced a couple of times, and rolled under the bed. Marissa pushed the small walker's body off of her and stood. "Are you o-" She stopped when she saw the bite mark on Marissa's forearm.

Before she could say anything else, the others had made their way to the room. Marissa stood there, staring at Lucy, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Martinez pushed past everybody, "Marissa…"

She looked at him and the tears started to roll down her face.

Martinez took her in his arms, holding her against him, stroking her hair.

Merle walked over to Lucy's side, and put his arm around her. Lucy tried to keep from crying as well. "We have to do something," she said, her voice barely audible.

"There's nothing we can do," Merle said.

"But, there has to be."

Hershel and Rick shook their heads.

"But if we find-"

She was cut off by Rick, "You don't even know where to start looking, it could be days, and then…" he trailed off.

"When Jim was bitten-" Daryl started, but Rick cut him off too.

"That was before I knew anything about this disease. Besides, you saw how quickly he turned…how quickly Amy turned...Shane…" He looked down at the floor.

Marissa looked up at Martinez, "Will you…" she couldn't bring herself to finish the question.

Martinez nodded.

"No!" Lucy objected, "She doesn't have to. She can't." She turned to Hershel, "You saw how fast Merle healed when I gave him my blood, maybe it'll work for her too."

Marissa, Milton, and Martinez all looked at Lucy, suddenly very curious as to what she was talking about.

"We can't take that chance," Rick said before Hershel could speak.

"What are you talking about?" Milton asked.

"She's a mutant," Merle said, which gained him a scowl from Lucy.

"She was given an experimental drug in Atlanta, she heals extremely fast, and has been bitten twice without turning," Hershel told him, since Lucy had pretty much already let the cat out of the bag.

"I'm pretty much one of them, just…not a corpse."

"We don't know if it'll work," Hershel told her.

"We can't take that chance," Rick said.

"It's not your choice," Lucy told him.

"No, it's mine," Marissa said, pulling from Martinez's grip and walking over to Lucy. She took her hands in hers. "I love you," she told Lucy. "I'm so happy to have gotten to see you again, and to know that you're okay." She looked at the ring on Lucy's finger, "I'm so happy you and Merle are making things work, that you guys are happy. I don't want to become one of those things."

"You won't," Lucy tried to object.

Marissa shook her head, "I don't want to take that chance." She leaned hugged Lucy tight, and kissed her cheek. Then she walked back over to Martinez, taking his hand and leading him out of the room.

Everyone stood staring at Lucy as the tears fell down her face. "I'm sorry," Rick started.

Lucy shook her head, "Don't…just don't…"

He turned to leave the room, nodding his head for everyone to follow him out. Merle stayed behind with Lucy. He walked over to her and put his arms around her. She leaned against him and cried.

_Author's Note: That's what you get for dissin Merle, bitch! Sorry, Marissa is actually my little sister, and she's constantly hating on Merle, I told her I would get her back for it, so, yeah…paybacks. I LOVE YOU MARISSA! _


	35. Chapter 35 - Burial

_Author's Note: I became seriously depressed writing this chapter._

Daryl and Rick removed the child's body from the bedroom, Daryl looked under the bed where the head had rolled and frowned. It was too far out of his reach, not that he really wanted to grab it anyways. He stood up and looked around, spotting Lucy's sword on the floor where she had dropped it. He picked it up, and then walked back over to the bed. He crouched down and stabbed the head. He stood back up with it, frowning. The girl's face was more skeletal than anything, she had definitely been starved. Who knew how long she had been in that closet.

Rick stood there, watching Daryl, same thoughts going through his mind. "I guess her parents thought she'd be safe in there."

Daryl nodded, "She must've starved to death, and then turned."

"Yeah," Rick sighed. "Come on; let's get this out of here."

* * *

Lucy walked outside with a sheet. She looked at Marissa's body, the bullet hole in her forehead, and she frowned. She walked over and wrapped her in the sheet. Martinez stopped digging and watched her. "So, you and Marissa were friends?" he asked.

She nodded as she stood. She turned and looked at him, "There another shovel?"

He nodded, "There's a couple of them in the shed," he jerked his head towards the small wooden building. There was no door, and it had a tin roof.

She walked over to it and stepped inside. She grabbed a shovel and joined Martinez, helping him dig Marissa's grave. "So, were you and her close?"

"Yeah, kind of," he told her. "We only recently really started to get to know each other." Lucy looked up at him, waiting for him to continue. "After…after Merle left, she was worried because some walker's got in. Some people were attacked…" he trailed off for a moment, remembering the incident. "She came to me afterwards, wanted to know if I could teach her to shoot. We spent days on top of the wall together. We got to know each other, and…" he stopped, not wanting to share the more intimate details.

"You loved her?"

"I had definitely started to fall for her," he admitted.

"Thank you."

He looked over at her, a little confused, "For what?"

"Taking care of her, making her happy. That's all she ever wanted, was a fairytale romance, she was such a hopeless romantic. I know there's nothing fairytale about this," she gestured with her hands, referring to what they were currently doing, as well as the situation in general. "But it's nice to know she had found what she had wanted."

Martinez gave her a weak smile, which she returned. They finished digging Marissa's grave, and then they put her body in it. They worked in silence as they filled the hole.

* * *

Merle walked into the kitchen, Beth and Hershel were in there. Hershel handed Beth a mug, and she filled it with coffee and handed it to Merle. "Thanks," he said, his voice low. Through the window he could see Lucy and Martinez digging Marissa's grave.

He took a sip of the coffee, it was dark and strong. He sighed and sat the mug on the table.

"She'll be okay," Hershel said. "She's a tough girl."

Merle nodded. He wasn't sure about that though. He remembered how Lucy had closed up when her mom died.

Beth walked into the other room, leaving the two men alone.

"This really has me thinking," Merle said.

Hershel sat across from him, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Merle sighed, "I don't want to waste any more time. She and I…we've had our problems. A lot of them, but I want to make things right."

"I thought you already had."

Merle shook his head, "That's not really what I'm talking about."

Hershel waited patiently for Merle to continue.

"Any one of us could go at any second, and I don't waste any more time. You being the most…spiritual of us, I was thinking, if she'd have me, you could marry us."

Hershel was shocked for a moment. Merle looked up at him. He chewed on the inside of his bottom lip, nervous about what he'd say. Hershel finally nodded, "I think that's a good idea." He smiled, "You know, Glenn just said the same thing to me about Maggie."

* * *

Everyone sat around the table eating, everything was quiet. No one knew what to say after what had happened earlier.

"I found some movies," Carl finally spoke up. "It's been awhile since we've had access to a TV, maybe we could watch one tonight?" He was trying to lighten the mood, relieve some of the tension in the atmosphere.

There was quiet muttering, people agreeing that it would be nice to do something relatively normal.

Lucy sighed, "I'm not in the mood."

Merle looked at her.

She didn't look at anyone. "I'm tired, I'm going to bed." She stood and walked upstairs.

Merle sighed and shook his head, she was closing up.

* * *

When Merle came upstairs, Lucy's back was to him. He couldn't tell if she was asleep or not. He stripped down and crawled into bed beside her. He didn't want to risk waking her up if she was asleep, so he just laid there, his back to her, and closed his eyes.

Lucy rolled over to face him. She frowned. The moonlight coming from the window made it to where she could see the scars on Merle's back. The scars that matched Daryl's. She frowned. She gingerly placed her fingers against his skin, tracing the scars. "I wake you up?" he asked.

"No, I was already awake," she whispered, her voice was hoarse from crying.

He rolled over to face her. She looked so sad and broken. He pushed the hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "Are you okay?"

She didn't respond, but he could see the hurt in her eyes. She was angry that Marissa chose to just end it instead of taking a chance. She was sad that she couldn't do anything about it.

His hand cupped the back of her head and he kissed her forehead, "It'll be okay."

She still didn't reply.

"I love you," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

A faint smile touched her lips.

"I want to marry you."

A tear started to slide down her face, he wiped it away with his thumb.


	36. Chapter 36 - Antiques

_Author's Note: I'm getting close to the end. I planned the final chapter a while back, but now I'm not so sure about it. If you don't mind the spoiler, message me and I'll tell you my idea. Your opinions won't entirely decide what I'm going to do, but they'll be greatly appreciated._

When Merle woke up, Lucy was putting her boots on, "What are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"What's it look like, I'm getting ready to go find that facility."

He yawned, "Well, wait a minute, I'm coming with you."

She shook her head, "No. You're going to stay here."

He raised his eyebrows, "You're not going alone."

She looked at him, giving him a stern look.

He gave her an even sterner look, "You're not going alone. I'll help you." He got up and started getting ready to join her on her search.

"Merle…"

"No, every time you go out doing something, you come back hurt. You need somebody with you that'll be able to bring you back."

She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to change his mind, "Fine," she muttered.

They left the room and headed downstairs, everyone else was awake too. "You getting ready to go?" Rick asked.

She nodded.

"We'll go too."

She shook her head, "I've already been forced to let Merle come along, y'all aren't coming too."

"Lucy…" Daryl started.

"No. Merle and I are going alone, if we're not back by nightfall, something has happened, and then you can come look for us."

Daryl and Rick both sighed, but reluctantly gave into her. Daryl reached up, scratching his forehead, "Carol's made breakfast, at least eat first."

* * *

"How are we going to find this place?" Merle asked as they walked down the sidewalk, both of the prepared to fight at the drop of a dime.

Lucy shrugged, "The one in Atlanta was under an antique store, I doubt the one here would be too."

"It's still worth checking," Merle said, heading across the street for one with a faded, rusted metal sign.

Lucy followed him. Lucy opened the door, and came face to face with a walker. She had probably been the shopkeeper. Lucy's eyes widened and she took a step back as the walker made a moaning sound, reaching for her. Lucy slapped it, "Stop that."

Merle killed it with his bayonet hand, and it crumpled to the floor. Lucy shoved it out of the way with her foot. "You slapped a walker," Merle said, ignoring what she was doing.

She shrugged.

"You slapped a walker," he repeated.

"So I did," she turned, looking at him, the sweetest smile she could manage on her face.

He laughed and shook his head, "Oh, Cherokee," he sighed, "What would I do without you?"

She shrugged, "Wither away and die miserably."

He grinned. "Keep an eye out for more of 'em, and kill 'em, don't just slap 'em."

"I can't make any promises," she told him, walking away.

They made their way to different areas of the shop, Merle found a jewelry case while Lucy's attention locked on an old record player. She blew the dust off of it, and started looking through the records. "Merle," she called.

"Yes, Cherokee?"

"Won't you dance with me?" she asked, sliding a record out of its sleeve.

"I don't dance," he said, looking over at her. She was placing the record on the player and lowering the needle.

"…Strangers in the night, exchanging glances, it turned out so right…" The music filled the shop and she swayed across the room to him, singing along.

"Please," she asked, taking his hand, and pulling him from behind the counter.

He sighed, and twirled her around. He pulled her close to him and she rested one hand on his shoulder, and the other on his hip. She smiled at him, "Nobody has ever gotten me to dance before," he told her.

"I expect lots of dancing at our wedding," she told him with a smile.

He frowned and she laughed.

"Spin me around again."

He did as she asked, and when he pulled her back to him, he put his other arm around her so he could reach into his pocket. He pulled out a ring and handed it to her.

"What's this?"

"A ring, duh."

She rolled her eyes, "I can see that. What's it for?"

"You, if you're gonna marry me, you need a wedding ring."

"I like this one though," she said, looking at the one that she now wore. The one that had belonged to his mom.

"It doesn't fit you though," he told her.

She shrugged, "Doesn't matter. You made it fit."

He frowned, "You can have 'em both."

She stopped dancing and looked up at him, her head tilted slightly to the side. She sighed, "Well why don't you hold onto it until Hershel marries us tonight. I'm pretty sure the ring exchange is supposed to happen during the ceremony."

He smiled and put it back in his pocket.

"You don't have a ring," she said.

He frowned and walked back over to the jewelry case. He looked through the plain gold bands, finally settling on one, he tried it on to make sure it fit, then put it in his pocket as well.

"Come on," he said, "We need to get to looking for this place."

She nodded and followed him to the door.

He opened the door and then took a step back; the street was filling with walkers, each of them heading towards the antique store. "It's that damn music!" he said.

"What are you doing?" she said, rushing to shut the door. She started moving a large dresser in front of the door, hoping to keep them out.

Merle stood there, watching her. "We need to get out of here," he finally said.

She groaned, "Shut up and help me with this first. It'll still slow them down, and give us time to find an escape."

Merle joined her and they managed to shove the dresser in front of the door, "Come on, let's go," he said, grabbing her hand and heading for the backroom, hoping there would be a way out.


	37. Chapter 37 - Hiding

_Author's Note: OMG! You guys, I totally forgot to tell you. You know those celebrity couple names? Well, thanks to ShutxThexFrontxDoor, Merle and Lucy have one. It's Mercy, because they have no mercy! And if I already told you guys, I forgot I told you. I'm drugged out of my mind on painkillers right now, I'm sorry._

Merle and Lucy ran into the backroom, then through another door, leading into a back alley. One end was blocked off by a fence, they only had one option. Merle grabbed Lucy's hand and they started running. When they came out onto the road he stopped, looking from left to right. "Are you kidding me?" she shouted, "There are no cars coming, we don't have to look first."

"Shut up before you attract 'em again! I'm trying to figure out which way to go."

She rolled her eyes and started to the left, he followed.

It didn't take long for more walkers to start making their way towards Lucy and Merle. He stopped and turned to face the growing horde. He lifted his gun, taking aim, and started firing. She turned back around, "What are you doing?"

"Buying you some more time."

She shook her head, "No, this isn't happening. Come on!"

He shook his head too, "Go."

She grabbed his forearm, and turned him to look at her, "I'm not letting you do this. If anybody should stay, it's me. I have a better chance, considering…"

"I can't let you do that, Cherokee."

"Well, I'm not leaving you."

He sighed, knowing he wasn't about to change her mind. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the rings. He slid hers onto her finger, "Til death do us part, sugarplum."

She smiled, "Until I die and die and die again," she slid his plain band onto his finger, and he pulled her into a kiss. She broke it quickly, "Save that for the honeymoon." She pulled an arrow from her quiver, knocked it to her bow, and took aim.

She used up her arrows, and he used up his bullets. She took out her gun and handed it to him, then used threw her knives, until they were gone. "What now?" Merle asked.

There was still more walkers then she could handle alone with her sword. "We run again."

They turned, and he took her hand in his, they took off down the street.

They ducked down another alley, hoping to put as much distance between them and the walkers as possible. "Starting to regret not letting anybody else come along, aren't ya? More people with us would've meant more ammo against the geeks."

She scowled

"You're bad luck, Cherokee."

"Shut up!"

He laughed as they came out onto another street.

"All of these different turns we're taken, I'm not sure we're ever going to make it back to the house."

He shrugged and looked around, "If we can at least find somewhere safe then they'll come looking for us. Daryl, probably Rick and Michonne too. They'll at least want to find you."

"If you didn't insist on fighting all the time, maybe they'd want you too."

Merle frowned, "They bring it on themselves."

Lucy rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else.

"Come on!" he led her to another store. She drew her sword as he opened the door. He quietly shut it behind them, and they crept through the room, making sure it was safe and clear of walkers before they relaxed.

"Clear?" she asked, rejoining him in the middle of the store.

He nodded.

She sat down on the floor, and he sat down beside her.

"I told you something bad always happens when you leave."

She frowned.

He put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"Wait, I guess. Either for the walkers to go away so we can get back, or for the others to come find us."

* * *

Night was starting to fall; Daryl looked out the window and frowned. His eyes scanned the street in both directions, but he didn't see Lucy or Merle anywhere. "We have to go find them," he said, turning to face the others.

"If we wait a little bit longer—" Rick started.

Daryl shook his head, "I'm going to find them, y'all can join me, or stay, it doesn't matter."

"I'll go," Michonne said, standing and grabbing her katana.

"Anyone else?" Daryl asked.

In the end, it was decided Daryl, Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, and Martinez would be the search party. The others would stay there, in case Merle and Lucy made it back first. Carl wanted to come, but Rick wouldn't allow it. "But dad…"

Rick cut him off, "Stay here and take care of your sister."

"I can help though," he protested.

A frown touched the corners of Rick's mouth, "Carl, please, I know you capable of helping, but please stay here. If something were to happen…" he trailed off for a moment, upset by the thought, "If something were to happen out there, wouldn't you want somebody to be able to tell Judith about her parents?"

Carl frowned, but Rick had a point. He finally nodded in defeat, "Alright, but nothing's going to happen, right? It's just in case."

Rick nodded, "Just in case."

Daryl smiled at him, "Don't worry, I'll make sure your dad comes back to ya."

Carl smiled slightly, and the group left the house.

* * *

Lucy stood and walked over to the window of the store, scanning the street, "I don't see any out there," she said, glancing over her shoulder at Merle.

"What do you wanna do?" Merle asked. "You wanna stay here, or you wanna make a run for it?"

She shrugged.

He stood up and walked over to her. His hand rested on her hip as he peered out the window, "its night, you know Daryl at least is looking for us."

She nodded, "We ran pretty far though, it could still be awhile before they come this way."


	38. Chapter 38 - Truth

_Author's Note: I've been contemplating a sequel._

Lucy carefully opened the door, and they stepped out onto the sidewalk. "Do you remember which direction we came from?" she asked, looking down the dark street.

Merle shook his head, "Not really, I think we came out an alley, down there." He pointed to the left.

She thought about it for a moment, "Maybe we should go the other way, we don't know how many are lingering down there, and we don't have any weapons."

Merle nodded in agreement, and they started down the road.

"I wish we had a map," she said as they walked. "I don't know about you, but street signs weren't really something I was paying attention to when we were running for our lives."

He shook his head, "I'm not sure where we are either."

* * *

The group stopped, they could hear the sounds of the walkers before they even turned the corner. Daryl put his finger to his lips and slowly crept along the side of the building. He carefully peeked around the corner. "Shit!" he muttered, seeing the horde gathered. He could just faintly hear something else, obviously what had attracted them.

He turned and walked back to the others, shaking his head. "I don't know how we're going to get past them. There's too many."

"We have guns," Martinez said.

Rick shook his head, "I don't wanna use more ammo than we have to until we find Merle and Lucy."

"What do we do then?"

Daryl shrugged, "It sounds like music or something is coming from one of the shops, but I'm not sure. Maybe Merle and Lucy turned it on."

"Why would they do that?" Michonne asked. She knew Merle wasn't the smartest of people, but he wasn't a complete idiot, and Lucy wasn't either.

Daryl shrugged, sighing.

Glenn looked around, "I got an idea." He stood and walked over to the nearby alley, where he began climbing the fence.

"What are you doing?" Rick asked.

"If they got stuck inside one of the buildings, maybe there's a back way in." He paused at the top, swinging one leg over so he was sitting on top of it. He looked back down at the group. "If they're not in there, maybe they turned the music on to keep the walkers distracted while they got out. If they are out, then we can still sneak past by going down the alley."

Daryl grinned, "You're pretty damn smart!" he said, grabbing the fence and beginning to climb up.

"That's one of the reasons I love him," Maggie said as the others began following suit.

They made their way down the alley to the antique store, and Daryl readied his crossbow, "Sounds like the music's coming from in here." Slowly, they pushed the door open, and he stepped inside the backroom. He looked around, not seeing Merle and Lucy anywhere. He walked over to the door leading into the storefront, and carefully opened it, not wanting to attract the attention of anyone or anything that might be on the other side.

All he could hear was the music. He scanned the empty room, but didn't see any walkers. He opened the door all the way and stepped through the threshold. There was a dead walker by the door, a blood trail from where it had been killed and then shoved out of the way. A dresser was pushed in front of the door, and it looked as if it had moved some, clearly from walkers attempting to get in.

He thought about turning off the music, but then decided against it. As long as they stayed quiet, the walkers probably wouldn't leave that particular street. He walked back into the backroom, "They're not here," he said, shaking his head. "Let's go."

Daryl led the way down the alley. They got back out onto another street and turned in the only obvious direction. "They could be anywhere," Rick commented.

Daryl looked at him, an eyebrow raised, "So, what do we do?"

"We could split up," Michonne offered. "Groups of two, we each search in a different direction, meet back here."

Daryl shrugged, "What other choice do we have?"

Rick sighed, not wanting to separate anybody, but they could be out there for hours searching if they stayed together. He finally nodded in agreement. Glenn and Maggie, Rick and Michonne, and Daryl and Martinez each went their separate ways to cover more ground and find Merle and Lucy.

* * *

"Do your group members get lost a lot? Or is that just a Dixon thing?" Martinez asked.

Daryl frowned, Merle would've never been lost to begin with if he hadn't of been cuffed to a roof in Atlanta. And he wouldn't call being kidnapped getting lost, either. Then there was Sophia, she wasn't even a Dixon… Daryl shook his head, clearing it of the thoughts of the little girl he couldn't save.

An awkward silence fell on the two of them. After a block or so, Martinez sighed, "I heard about what happened with Phillip," he paused for a moment, gauging Daryl's reaction. "Sorry about that, um…" he reached up and scratched the back of his head before continuing, "I'm glad Lucy and Rick were able to find you."

"I'm not the one that should be apologized to," Daryl said, trying to keep his anger down. He didn't want to be reminded of Sophia, every time Merle called Lucy by her stage name; it reminded him of his failed search for her. The days he had spent in the woods, calling her name, begging her to step through a door way or step out from behind a tree. Now on top of that, he was being forced to recall the images of Lucy being tortured.

"I'm sorry," Martinez said, keeping his voice low. He hadn't meant to upset the smaller Dixon.

Daryl just shook his head again, not bothering to reply.

* * *

Merle and Lucy rounded another corner, "Shouldn't we have circled back by now?" Merle asked.

Lucy sighed, "I don't know. Maybe we should've just stayed put."

Merle put his arms around her, pulling her to him. "Who knows when they would've found us if we had of done that. And I doubt they'll be out here all night looking for us…"

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but then stopped. "Daryl would."

Merle frowned.

"Rick too, probably whoever else is out here looking for us." She paused, "When Daryl was left in Woodbury, they came back for him, and you…"

Merle looked at her, an odd look on his face, "How do you know that?"

Lucy stopped, "I…"

"Yes?"

She sighed heavily, "I had been spying on you for a while."

Merle pulled away from her, looking at her. "You were spying on me?"

"I saw you when you were hunting Michonne. I wasn't sure it was you, and then in the town, after you took Glenn & Maggie…"

"And you didn't feel the need to show yourself sooner?"

"Merle…" She sighed, not sure what to say. "When Daryl didn't make it out of Woodbury with the others, I was gonna go in myself and get him, but they went back."

"When you knew where I was in Woodbury, why didn't you come there? I wouldn't have let anything happen to you. And when we were on the road, and Daryl left them, why did you wait? Why didn't you come out of hiding then?"

She shrugged and shook her head slightly, "I don't know. I guess…I guess I was still a little afraid of you. I was afraid of falling back into the old patterns."

"When you were following us in the woods, why did you reveal yourself when you did?"

"Because of Daryl, when you ripped his shirt…" she paused not sure what to say next.

Merle looked at her, shook his head slightly, turned, and started walking again, leaving her standing there.

"Merle!" he ignored her, "Merle! Dammit, look at me!" He kept walking. She ran to catch up to him. She grabbed his forearm, tugging on it so he'd turn around, "You're mad at me."

"I thought you died in Atlanta! I thought I would never see you again. All I had left was Daryl, and then for a year I have fought and killed, all I wanted was to get my brother back. You saw me, you knew where I was, and you decided not to do anything. Not to say anything. You couldn't walk up to me and say, 'Hey, Merle, I'm alive, I'll help you find Daryl.'"

"Merle, I'm sorry…" she was about to cry. She never saw Merle upset. She saw him angry, but never upset. She grabbed his other wrist too, her fingers just barely touching the heel of his palms. "Please, Merle…"

"Why couldn't you just tell me?" he asked again.

"I was scared. I had fought so hard, and I didn't want to go back to that."

"But you were willing to in order to protect Daryl."

"I was afraid you'd hurt him."

"He's my brother!"

"After all the times you hit me, how was I supposed to know you wouldn't do the same to him?"

He ignored her question, a thought occurring to him. "Did you know…did you know about the scars on his back?"

She bit her lip, trying to find the right words to say. Finally she nodded.

"So you and Daryl are a lot closer than I thought. You knew about his scars when I didn't, he knew you were pregnant, but neither of you felt the need to tell me—"

"Merle, please, it's not…" She sighed and closed her eyes, her shoulders slumping. "You don't understand."

"No, I don't understand. I don't understand why my brother is closer to the girl that I wanted to make my wife then I am. Or why he was able to show you his scars, but he couldn't tell me, why he never bothered to mention to me that our piece of shit father beat him."

Tears started to fall down Lucy's face. "Merle, I'm sorry. We were able to talk to each other, it wasn't…Neither of us really had anybody, and with the way you were…" she shrugged. "It was easy to talk to each other. Please, don't be angry."

"I'm not angry," he told her. "I'm disappointed." He pulled out of her grip and started walking away again.

She followed quietly behind him.


	39. Chapter 39 - Almost Done

"Merle!" Daryl shouted, "Lucy!"

"Maybe you should keep it down," Martinez commented, "You don't want to attract any unwanted attention."

Daryl scowled, "What do you suggest?"

Martinez didn't say anything. A walker stumbled out of an alley; Daryl took aim and shot it, killing it. As he walked by, he retrieved his arrow, "If you want to go back to the others, I won't stop you." He was becoming anxious; he was desperate to find them. The constant reminders of his failures were getting to him too, he was starting to become the Daryl he had been a year before, the Daryl with a temper who hated everybody and was angry all the time. But if he could find Merle and Lucy…

"Merle, get your ugly ass out here!" he shouted.

Martinez sighed loudly.

Daryl turned around, "If you want to go back to the others, I won't stop you. I do better on my own anyways. Besides, I'm not going back until I find them."

"And if they've already been found, or are at the house?"

Daryl shrugged, "Y'all know where I am."

Martinez sighed again.

"Just go!" Daryl turned and kept going.

* * *

Merle stopped, "You hear that?"

"So, you're talking to me again."

Merle frowned. Lucy bit the inside of her bottom lip.

"Merle, I know you're…disappointed. I understand, but…you were just so hard to talk to back then. Things are different now, we've both changed." She took his hand

They heard the shout again; they could almost make out the words. "We can talk about this later, Lucy."

For a moment, Lucy was taken aback by his use of her real name. She frowned as he pulled his hand from hers, and walked towards the shouting. Lucy followed him, her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it in case they were walking into trouble.

* * *

Daryl called out their names again, "Boy, you got a death wish?" Merle asked, appearing around the corner. "Can't you keep it down, or do you want to bring the hordes down on us?"

"Thank God!" Daryl shouted, seeing Merle and Lucy. He slung his crossbow over his shoulder, and ran to them. His arms wrapped around Lucy, hugging her, she smiled and returned the hug. Then she caught the look in Merle's eyes and frowned, pulling away from Daryl.

Daryl looked at Merle, he'd never hugged his brother before, and he wasn't going to start now, he settled for placing his hand on his shoulder in an awkward pat.

The trio met back up with the others, and they headed for the house. Lucy and Merle didn't speak a word as they walked. They stole occasional glances at each other; Lucy was nervous, and slightly fearful of what Merle would say to her once they were alone again. Merle didn't know what he'd say to her at all, he was struggling inside.

He understood what Lucy had said, she hadn't been lying. Way back then, if Daryl had told Merle about what he'd gone through, Merle probably would've lost his mind. And thinking back on their past, it was no wonder Lucy had been terrified of telling him things. If she had of told him she was pregnant, how would he have reacted? He wasn't the kind of person she could open up to, Daryl was.

It just pained him that she and Daryl both saw each other as confidants, but were too afraid to confide in him. And it hurt him that she had been so scared of him, that the only reason they were together now was because she was worried that he would hurt Daryl. The only other person he had ever cared about and he hadn't even realized how much he cared about Lucy until he lost her.

When they got back to the house, everyone except Hershel and Carol had fallen asleep. Lucy went straight upstairs; Merle went into the kitchen to eat. Hershel walked in and sat down next to him at the table, "It's a little late tonight to-"

He stopped when Merle shook his head, "I'm not."

"What happened?"

Merle frowned, "It's not something I want to talk about."

Hershel pursed his lips, but nodded. He stood and hobbled into the other room, ready to go to sleep.

After Merle ate, he went upstairs. He stopped at the door to the room he was sharing with Lucy. Did he just go in there? Did he knock? Would she want to talk to him? He frowned and sighed as he lifted his knuckles, knocking on the wood. He didn't wait for her to respond; he opened the door and leaned against the frame. Lucy was in bed.

She lifted her head, looking at him, then laid her head back down on the pillow. He heard her sigh. He walked into the room, shutting the door behind him, and took his shoes off. He sat down on the edge of the bed; their backs were to each other. "You're not going to eat?" he asked.

She didn't reply.

He sighed again.

"I'm not hungry," she said as he lay down.

Merle turned his head, looking at her for a moment. She didn't move. He turned over onto his side. He looked at the band around his finger.

"Are you still…" she trailed off on her own. The mattress squeaked a little as she rolled over.

He rolled over too, so that they were facing each other. He shrugged slightly, "I'm over it."

"Really?" her eyebrows knitted together and her forehead creased.

"After everything I've done to you, you had every right to not want to see me. I can't blame you for thinking I might hurt Daryl." He paused. She reached over, cautiously, and gently placed her hand on the side of his face.

"Merle…"

He sighed, "I wish I could've been a better brother…I wish I could've been a better boyfriend. Somebody y'all could've trusted and depended on. I wish I had of never left him, I wish I had of never hurt you."

"That's the past."

"I know, but it hurts."

"Only if you let it."

They laid there in silence. Lucy frowned slightly; she looked at the pillow, away from Merle.

"Do you still want to marry me?" she asked, still not looking at him, afraid of the answer.

"If you'll still have me," he whispered.

A smile touched the corners of her lips, and they twitched slightly. She moved closer and kissed him gently. He smiled.


	40. Chapter 40 - Looking For

Lucy woke up to an empty bed; she sat up and yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Her door opened and Maggie, Beth, and Carol came into the room, "Good morning!" they shouted.

Lucy groaned, "What's going on?"

"We have something for you," Beth said, seating herself at the foot of the bed.

Lucy lay back against the pillows, shutting her eyes. She just wanted to go back to sleep, but she knew that wouldn't happen.

"Don't be like that," Carol told her. "Brides are supposed to be happy on their wedding day."

Lucy's eyes cracked wide open, "My what?" She sat up and seen Carol hanging a garment bag on the closet door. She sighed heavily before asking, "What's in that?"

Carol smiled and unzipped it, revealing a white dress. It was corseted, and skirt was short and very ruffled.

Lucy blinked a few times, "It's very pretty," she finally managed.

"I picked it out," Maggie told her. "Michonne was with me."

"Come on, get dressed," Beth prodded.

Lucy stood up and walked over to the dress, her fingers delicately gliding across the fabric.

"Come on, your groom is waiting for you." Lucy smiled, and tried to imagine Merle in a tux or a suit, but it was impossible.

She stripped herself of the clothes and stepped into the dress, pulling it up. She held it against her as Carol laced up the bodice. Lucy brushed her hair out and Maggie gave her a shoe box. Inside was a pair of blue pumps. "You need something blue," she told her.

"And something new, something borrowed, and something old," Carol finished.

"Your dress and shoes are new," Beth said, then she removed her necklace and put it around Lucy's neck, "This is old and borrowed."

Lucy smiled. "I can't believe you guys are going through all of this trouble."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Carol told her, leading the way out of the bedroom.

As they made their way downstairs to the empty living room, Lucy asked, "Where is everybody."

"Waiting for you." Maggie opened the door and the four women walked outside, and got in the car.

They drove to a park, and came to a stop when they saw Daryl standing outside the gates, crossbow in hand. They got out and Daryl smiled when he seen Lucy. He strapped his crossbow to his back, Lucy looked him over, "You clean up nicely, Dixon."

A slight blush tinted his cheeks and she smiled. "You look pretty," he told her.

He offered her his arm, and she tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and kissed his cheek. Carol, Beth, and Maggie walked through the gate ahead of them. Everyone was seated on park benches lining the sidewalk, except for Hershel and Merle, who were standing a few feet away. Just as Lucy had expected, Merle wasn't in a tux or a suit, but she'd never seen him more handsome standing there waiting for her.

"When did y'all do this?" Lucy asked as Daryl walked her down the makeshift aisle.

"This morning, we got up and cleaned it out, there weren't many. Then Maggie and Michonne went and got your dress."

"Thank you."

They reached Merle and Hershel and Daryl leaned over to kiss her cheek before sitting down next to Carl.

"Marriage," Hershel started, "Marriage is what brings us together today. Marriage, that blessed arrangement, that dream within a dream, and love, true love will follow you forever, so treasure your love…" Hershel paused, "Then Prince Humperdinck made him skip to the rest, so I don't know the rest….do you have the rings?"

Lucy could barely contain a laugh, as Merle nodded, "We already…"

Hershel nodded in understanding, "Then do you?" he asked Lucy.

She nodded, "I do."

"And you?" he asked Merle.

"I do."

"Then I pronounce you man and wife, and you may kiss your bride."

Lucy smiled and wrapped her arms around Merle's neck as everyone quietly clapped and cheered, nervous about attracting walkers.

They went back to the house for the "reception" and Lucy's search for the Savannah facility was put on hold for the day. Glenn had found a liquor store that morning that hadn't been completely ransacked, so they were able to celebrate with alcohol.

The party ended, but not out of choice. Lucy heard it first, the rumbling of vehicles, she walked over to the window and pulled the curtain aside to see the jeeps rolling down the road. "Looks like something from Woodbury," Merle commented, joining her.

"It's military."

They looked at each other. The idea hit Lucy, and before she could even think about it, she ran out the door, Merle behind her.

She waved them down, and they rolled to a stop. Two people stepped out of one of the jeeps, a man in a military uniform, and a man in a lab coat.

They introduced themselves as Sergeant Ross and Doctor Campbell. "You've survived here for a year?" the doctor asked, amazed that people had been right under their noses, and they hadn't known sooner.

Lucy shook her head, "We've been in other places, we only just got here a couple of days ago."

Dr. Campbell thought about what she said, "We have a facility, it's safe, you and your friends are welcome to come with us, under the condition that you submit to blood testing upon arrival."

Lucy smiled and nodded, "I have a condition as well though."

"That is?"

"That if my friends and I decide to leave, we won't be stopped."

"Of course," Dr. Campbell said with a smile, "Nobody is a prisoner there."

"Okay then," they returned inside to gather their things.

As Lucy was putting on her boots, Merle looked at her, an odd expression on his face.

"What?"

"You're wearing that dress with those boots?"

She rolled her eyes.

She stood to grab her bags, "You really trust them?" he asked.

She sighed and shrugged, "I'm not sure, but what other choice do we have? This is what I was looking for."

Merle nodded, and put his arms around her, pulling her close.


	41. Savior - Finale

_Author's Note: This is it. The final chapter. I want to think everyone again who's been reading and reviewing, your kind words mean so much to me. I love you guys so much._

Lucy watched as the jeeps rolled up to a warehouse, it was surrounded by a fence, and the jeeps were parked inside. They got out and were led to elevators that took them underneath to the main facility. They each had blood drawn and were led to another room to wait. When Dr. Campbell did come back he looked at Lucy, "Could I speak with you in private?" he asked.

She looked at the others, slightly nervous; she could tell from their expressions that they didn't want her to go on her own. She pursed her lips and stood anyways, "Of course."

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and followed Dr. Campbell to his office. "Your results were rather interesting," he said, taking a seat behind his desk.

Lucy sat down in one of the chairs on the opposite side; she moved her bag so that it was in her lap. She opened it and took out the files. She slid them across the desk to them, "These are from the lab in Atlanta."

He arched an eyebrow before picking up the first folder and opening it. They sat in silence while he read it. She chewed the inside of her bottom lip as they sat in silence; he picked up another file, opened it and read it.

"So, you received this treatment?" he asked, looking at her.

She nodded.

"And it worked?"

She nodded again, "I've been bitten twice, and shot." She didn't mention the torture she had gone through. She didn't want to relive the moments tied to the chair.

He closed the folders and set them aside, "Your friend, Merle Dixon," she tensed slightly, nervous about what he would say, "his results were slightly abnormal too."

She sighed, "He was shot, and needed a transfusion, and I gave him my blood."

Dr. Campbell nodded slightly, considering her words.

They continued talking about the treatment and the testing that had went on in Atlanta, before moving on to discuss the events that had led up to Lucy being there right then. Dr. Campbell picked up the cuff that Lucy had worn around her wrist, "And you picked this up in Atlanta?"

She nodded, "I couldn't figure out how to make it work though."

Dr. Campbell took out a screwdriver, and with a bit of prodding, a thin steel rod extended from it. "It was jammed," he told her.

"Oh, that probably would've been useful on a few occasions."

Dr. Campbell smiled.

They continued the conversation, and Lucy began to become uncomfortable, she shook her head, "I'd like to leave," she told him.

"It's safest here. You're well protected, there's no way….walkers…can get in."

She shook her head again. "My friends and I are going to leave."

"Miss Thornton, I don't think that's a good idea."

"It's Dixon, and I don't care."

"What about your friends? Wouldn't you like for them to be safe too? Give me a few days and they can be the same as you."

She stood, shaking her head, "We're all leaving." She opened the door and stepped past the guards. "Stop her."

She started running, "Merle! Daryl!" she started shouting everyone's names, trying to warn them. If they could make it to the elevators, they could steal a couple of vehicles, they could escape. She felt a hand on her arm and turned, she smashed the heel of her palm against their nose. There was a crunch and blood flowed from his nostrils. She felt another set of hands grab her upper arms, and she fought to get free before she was injected with a tranquilizer. Her body quickly relaxed, and she slumped against the guard's chest.

* * *

Lucy opened her eyes just for a moment, she was being moved. The lights above her were blinding, just for a moment she thought she saw his face, "Merle," her voice was just barely more than a whisper.

"I'm right here, Lucy, I'm here. Come back to me."

* * *

Merle was led to the room with a plaque on the door; the plaque read 'Lucille Thornton'. He stepped forward, looking inside the small window. Lucy sat in a chair in the middle of the room. She was wearing a white dress that went up to her neck and down to her knees. She was barefoot, and her hands were in her lap. Her hair was a tangled, black, feather-free mess around her shoulders. Her head was tilted down, her eyes hidden, but he could see her lips moving, too fast to make out what she was saying. He frowned, seeing her. Between losing her mom, and all of the drugs she had been, she couldn't cope after the miscarriage. It didn't take long before she had completely lost her mind. "She's getting worse," Dr. Campbell told him.

Merle frowned and turned to face the man, "It's been a year, why isn't she getting better?"

Dr. Campbell gestured helplessly with his hands, "She refuses the medication. Most of the time, we have to force her to take it, and she just throws it back up. We've tried getting her to socialize with the others, but…" He shook his head, frowning.

"Let me talk to her," it was more of a demand than a request.

"Mr. Dixon, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"She's violent."

"Violent?" he scoffed. Merle turned back to look through the little window, and shook his head, his Cherokee Rose wasn't violent. "You're kidding me."

Dr. Campbell sighed, "She lashes out at the other patients whenever she's around them, she's attacked staff members, and just this morning she broke the nose of one of our guards."

"I need to talk to her," he told him, desperation starting to seep into his voice. "I know she's still in there, if I could just…" he stopped, he wasn't going to beg. Merle Dixon didn't beg.

Dr. Campbell sighed, "You have to remove your shoelaces and anything else she could use as a weapon."

"My shoelaces?" he asked in disbelief, his eyebrows arched.

Dr. Campbell shrugged, "Its policy."

Merle shook his head as he knelt down to untie his boots. "What if I just take them off altogether?" he asked, not wanting to have to relace them.

The doctor shrugged, "That's fine too."

Merle untied his boots and kicked them off, and Dr. Campbell unlocked the door to Lucy's room.

"Lucy," he said her name carefully.

Her lips stopped moving and she slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and she was pale. She looked even more skeletal than she had a year ago when she was on drugs.

"Lucy, you remember me? It's Merle."

Her lips parted, and he stepped closer to her. She muttered something he couldn't hear.

He smiled, "Lucy."

She stood. Her eyes went from his face to his left hand, then his right, then back to his face, "You're not real," she whispered.

"What?"

"You're not real!" she screamed and lunged at him. He threw his hands out and tucked his chin to keep from getting hurt as he fell to the floor, her on top of him. She straddled him as anger and took over her face and she clawed her nails down his cheeks, screaming the whole time.

He grabbed her forearms and pushed them away, his grip was tight, but he did his best not to hurt her, certain it wouldn't take much to snap her arms. It never had before.

He heard Dr. Campbell shouting for security, and in moments, she was being lifted off of him. She kicked and snarled, and bit at the hands wrapped around her biceps. He sat there on the floor, shocked that this was what his sweet Cherokee Rose had become.

Dr. Campbell walked in with a syringe, Merle watched the needle pierce Lucy's skin, and the doctor pushed the plunger down. She went limp, her head falling to the side. Her eyes were open, and she was looking at him. "Lucy," he said her name, his voice barely a whisper.

The guards moved her to the bed, and strapped her down. He quickly got up and went to her side.

Lucy blinked, the light above her head was bright, she turned her head away and squinted, just for a moment, she could see his face, "Merle," she whispered.

But he smiled, "I'm here Lucy, I'm right here. Come back to me."

She closed her eyes as sleep overcame her.

Merle sighed and stood up. He walked out of the room and started putting his boots back on. Dr. Campbell walked beside him as they walked down the hall, into the common area that was adjacent to the lobby. "It's risky, but we could try psychosurgery—"

"No." Merle shook his head, "She's damaged enough, you're not going to start cutting up her brain."

"Mr. Dixon—"

Merle cut him off again, "I said no."

Dr. Campbell nodded.

Merle looked around the room, "Are they all…are they all like her?"

Dr. Campbell shook his head, "The man over there," he pointed to a man in a worn-out armchair. He had thick black hair, and a little bit of a beard. His elbows were on his knees, and he was leaning forward, his head in his hands, "He was hospitalized after getting shot, when he came home he found his wife and his best friend in bed together. The two girls there," he pointed to a blonde and a brunette sitting on the couch next to each other, "They came here after a fire on their farm, they lost a lot of their family, and their father's been in the hospital after having to have his leg amputated. The woman there," he nodded to another woman, she was older with short hair "She came here because of depression after suffering abuse from her husband."

"So, everyone here has gone through something traumatic that caused them to lose it?"

"Not all of them," Dr. Campbell said, smiling at a young Asian man who was walking towards them.

"Hey, doc!" he smiled.

"Some of them, like Glenn here, check themselves in for short periods of time."

He shrugged, "I just like to get away from it all. It's nice to not have to think so much."

"He's a genius," Dr. Campbell told Merle.

"The stress gets to me sometimes."

_Author's Note: I know some of you probably won't like this ending, but it's my story, and I like it, and that's what matters. In case you don't realize it, except for Daryl and Merle, all of the characters that were in this story are in the hospital (Shane, Lori, etc who died before this story began, weren't at the hospital), and if they died in the story, it's because they were released in 'reality', except for Marissa, who came to visit Lucy once. _


End file.
